Whisson family raise profits in WA wheatbelt at Cunderdin

Yields are the key profit driver for the Whisson family at Cunderdin, WA, and they do everything they can to maximise them. See their story.

As Adam Whisson switched seats from the header to the chaser bin to let his father Dennis take a turn harvesting on their Cunderdin farm in the wheatbelt of Western Australia, he admitted to being surprised how well crops were yielding despite tough growing conditions earlier in the year.

A lack of autumn rain meant crops were initially touch-and-go, but a good break came at the end of June, followed by three months of consistent falls.

“The last three to four years have been pretty kind to us and we’ve managed to pay off a bit of debt and put some aside,” Adam said, adding yield was their key profit driver.

“Yield is king. Always has been, always will be,” he said.

“The more you can grow, the better you’ll go. Everything we do is driven by yield.

“You can save and skimp but it will all be for nothing if you can’t grow the crops in the end.”

SUCCESSION PLAN

Adam and Kelly Whisson with their children Edee, 9, and Charlie, 6, from Cunderdin, Western Australia, are in the middle of harvest.

Adam and wife Kelly, with kids Edee, 9, and Charlie, 6, are fourth generation farmers, having taken on the family business in 2020.

They run a mixed cropping and sheep enterprise on 2700 hectares with wheat the primary crop, making up 50 per cent of what they grow, along with canola, barley, lupins and oats.

About 2000ha is cropped with the remainder used for grazing 1200 ewes plus lambs and wethers.

Livestock comprises 25 per cent of the business and the recent collapse of the live sheep trade to the Middle East has significantly impacted them.

Instead of sending wethers on the boat, the Whissons have done their best to get lambs up to kill weight for local abattoirs, or failing that, to feedlots.

They are currently producing 400 Merino wether lambs and 400 Poll Dorset lambs.

HITTING THE MARK

This year the Whissons planted 1000ha of wheat, 380ha of canola, 300ha of lupins, 150ha of barley, and 90ha of oat, equating to 3000 tonnes of wheat, 500 tonnes of canola, 400 tonnes of lupins and 600 tonnes of barley.

They grow genetically modified, round-up ready canola, oats for export hay, and barley and lupins for stockfeed.

The wheat area is equally split between bread and noodle wheat.

“Noodle wheat is often worth a little bit more in dollars a tonne but there are also tighter parameters to hit those quality markers and get it into that certain grade,” Adam said.

“We generally hit the noodle window pretty well – it needs to be between 9.5 and 11.5 per cent protein and our last two loads have been bang on 10 per cent, which is where we want it.”

Dennis and Adam Whisson on their property at Cunderdin, Western Australia.

LONG AND SHORT

Cunderdin has a 350mm rainfall that mostly falls during winter but also dictates when planting occurs.

In a dry year, seeding starts on Anzac Day but if it’s wet, anytime from April 1.

Canola is planted first followed by oats, lupins, long season wheat, barley and short season wheat. The timing is important for flowering and to avoid frost damage.

“Oats are less susceptible to frost damage – they can handle a cold night and have another 2C to 3C of cold tolerance than wheat so that’s why they can go in early,” Adam said.

They use short and long season wheats that mature at different times as a frost risk management tool.

“We grow longer wheats on lower, frostier country where they hopefully will flower a bit later in the year when there is less risk of getting frost damage and put shorter wheats up high where there is less chance of getting wiped out by frost,” Adam said.

“That is the plan but it doesn’t always work out that way.”

GOOD ROTATION

Crop rotations depend on soil types but generally two cereal crops are followed by a legume crop such as lupins or canola to break the weed cycle and add nitrogen to the soil.

Most crops are direct sown with a knife-point in a minimum till system with GPS guidance.

Wheat and barley is planted at 70kg/ha, lupins and oats 100kg/ha and canola 1.8kg/ha.

Depending on the type of fertiliser, the Whissons typically aim to apply nine units of phosphorus with the seed and 25 units of nitrogen as well as some sulphur and potassium.

As the season progresses they may also top with 65 to 70 units of nitrogen on cereals and 80 to 100 units on canola.

“That changes – we play around with how much nitrogen goes on depending on how the season is going in terms of rainfall,” Adam said.

“If it’s drier than expected, the crop doesn’t need all that nitrogen, all that does is cause crops to get smaller seeds, shrivelled grain at the end of the year and quality problems. It is pointless tipping money down the drain.

“Splitting our nitrogen applications up is one way we can limit the damage in a dry year but you have to be prepared when it is raining to pour it on. You don’t want the lack of nitrogen being the limiting factor of why you don’t achieve your yield potential.”

Harvesting is currently in full swing.

Insecticides are used to prevent common predators such as red legged earthmites, lucerne flea, diamond back moth and bud worm.

Some years, the Whissons will burn stubble, particularly if there is a high stubble load, weed or pest burden, but 90 per cent of the time, crops are sown straight into the previous year’s stubble.

“We try to keep the stubble where it is because it is like a blanket of mulch and limits the amount of moisture drawn out through environmental factors,” Adam said.

BALANCING BOOKS

Harvesting is currently in full swing and generally takes six to eight weeks from when crops are ready in October.

It is all direct-harvested with the Whisson’s header and grain is taken to CBH by a local contractor.

The five to 10 year average yields are 2.5 tonnes/ha for wheat, 1.5 tonnes/ha for lupins and canola, and 3 tonnes/ha for barley.

The Whissons had their best year on record in 2021-22 with their top paddocks producing 5 tonnes/ha for wheat and 2.5 tonnes/ha for canola.

“The rule of thumb is your wheat goes twice as well as canola and if you grow hay, that grows twice as well as wheat,” Adam said.

“It’s a flimsy rule of thumb but the amount of times it works out like that is uncanny.”

Prices were seasonally dependent.

“If we took this year for example, and worked on a 3 tonne/ha average for wheat, you might be looking at $600 to $650 a tonne as a net figure,” Adam said.

“$1000/ha less costs would be general for this area for cereals.

“Compared to 2021-22 when it was a lot better we would have been closer to $2000/ha but that is not the norm.”

The Whissons sell the majority of grain for the cash price of the day but also hire a grain marketer to seize opportunities for higher market prices or forward contracts, should they arise.