Bumper crop also delivers stubble woes

A challenging cropping season is set to create a huge stubble load.

Tackling the challenge of dense stubble is next on the agenda, after harvest, for grains and cropping farmers.

The past three seasons have delivered crops, in many parts, that left behind heavy stubble loads after harvest.

Mangoplah farmer and agronomist Don Kirkpatrick from Maxwell Park said there were undoubtedly some high-yielding crops despite damage from rain.

And as a result, there would be heavy stubble.

“I’ve heard of crops of canola near Geelong doing nearly 5.5 tonnes a hectare ... there are some very good crops,” he said.

“In some areas, there’s pretty big stubble too.”

Mr Kirkparick said these high-yielding crops leave behind big stubble loads.

“There are good opportunities for barley stubble, and people are baling that,” he said.

“Barley stubble (provides) useful roughage for livestock,” he said.

In many instances, he predicted landholders would opt not to burn stubble.

But he didn’t rule out a late cool burn as a valuable tool for removing stubble and helping with weed control.

He said weed control had been challenging in the past few years.

Due to the late nature of harvest this season, getting rid of stubble is a timing issue for some.

“There are many who will harvest well into late January, then they will look to sow long-season wheat for winter feed by early March,” he said.

Canola stubble was expected to be plentiful after a record crop, estimated to tip 7.5 million tonnes for the season.

The Australian Oilseeds Federation chief executive officer Nick Goddard said the canola harvest on the East Coast growing region was the most challenging harvest. “The absolute size of this year’s crop is testament to the investment in disease management, best practice agronomy and broader farming-systems work that has been undertaken in recent years,” Mr Goddard said.

Meanwhile, there has been a move away from burning stubble in favour of conservation farming methods and preserving soil moisture.

Agriculture Victoria has published surveys in western Victoria to provide insights into burning trends.

In northern Wimmera, more than 80 per cent of paddocks had retained stubble in 2021. This figure was double that of 996.

In southern Wimmera, almost 75 per cent of cropped paddocks retained stubble in 2021. At this time, 20 per cent had been burnt or prepared for burning. And it was primarily using windrowing burning.

Benefits of retaining stubble include mitigating erosion risks and improving water use efficiency and soil health.

However, in addition to removing stubble, some farmers burn it for weed control.