Awesome autumn break for Birchip grain grower

Bill Lee celebrates the rainfall that will give crops, which were sown earlier this year, the best start at his family farm at Birchip.

Wet underfoot: Bill Lee celebrates the rainfall that will give crops the best start at his family farm at Birchip. Picture: CHLOE SMITH

IT  has been the best autumn break ever for Birchip grain grower Andrew Lee.

Mr Lee, who produces wheat, barley, lentils and vetch, began sowing about three weeks ago with a “stack of moisture” in the ground.

“Last week we received 54mm of rain and about 304mm in total for autumn,” Mr Lee said.

“It is one of the best starts to the season for rainfall from memory.

“Our sheep-feed paddock is the best it has been in a long time because of this season’s autumn break.”

This year Mr Lee began sowing his crops earlier than usual because of the moisture boost and some concerns over how wet it could get.

He said the drenching over the past week caused him to stop sowing for about eight days, only restarting again this week.

“We started up again on Monday and are sowing wheat at the moment and will move on to barley next,” he said.

The season was shaping up to triumph last year’s yield volumes, Mr Lee said.

“We got some big rain in December 2018 which boosted soil moisture levels last year but this year the rain has spanned across about three months,” he said.

Mr Lee’s son, Bill, who helps out on the farm when not at university studying a Bachelor of Agriculture, agreed that crops were looking good all round.

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“It’s green, wet and there is good stubble in the paddocks,” Bill said.

Because of the extensive rain this year, Mr Lee said he did see a delay in chemical supply, as companies struggled to keep up. “There was a glyphosate issue for about three weeks but I think it has all caught up now.”