Rain has set up an ideal hay season for a Timmering grower

Rain this season has boosted moisture in Alex Peacock’s oat and lucerne hay crops.

Better year: Timmering hay grower Alex Peacock expects improved yields.

AMPLE rain this year has turned around Timmering hay grower and contractor Alex Peacock’s season.

This year’s hay yields are expected to be an improvement on last year’s volumes, Mr Peacock said, when crops finished poorly due to the dry.

“Yields will definitely be an increase on last year, we had a very dry year and crops were pretty poor,” he said. “We were lucky to get crops for hay.”

But rain this season has given Mr Peacock’s oats and lucerne hay crops sufficient moisture.

“Hay has had enough rain this season,” he said.

However, due to the size of his cereal crops — which include wheat and canola — Mr Peacock said further rain to finish them would be needed in spring.

“Rainfall this season has been good and I’m happy with how canola and wheat crops are looking too,” he said.

And while his crops went through a fairly dry July, it didn’t hamper the season.

“It wasn’t horrible, we weren’t needing too much rain,” he said.

Meanwhile hay cutting in northwest Victoria is expected to begin soon.

After recently visiting hay crops in parts of west Mildura, Mr Peacock said growers were having a “reasonable season”.

“West Mildura has reasonable crops this year, and they are looking like they will produce about three to four tonnes for oats and about two tonnes for vetch,” he said.

At Sea Lake, Mr Peacock expected the area to produce about four to five tonnes for oats.

“Growers should start cutting hay there over the next few weeks,” he said.

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