Canola prices have nudged above $715 a tonne at port in Victoria

Canola prices are trending upwards but for some they didn’t even plant it this year due to the late seasonal break.

Climbing canola prices are welcome for some farmers and bittersweet for others.

Canola delivered to Geelong is currently trending at $715/tonne, and there are indications that values could get as high as $800/tonne in Western Australia.

However, the news is of little comfort to farmers who have either resown failed crops or left canola out of the rotation completely.

Western districts farmer Anthony Mulcahy. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Western districts farmer Anthony Mulcahy said it was good to see canola prices heading in the right direction.

However, he conceded he was currently resowing a failed canola crop with barley.

It was too late in the season to contemplate resowing canola.

The late start and tough seasonal conditions in his area had taken a toll on canola.

A reprieve arrived in the past three and a half years with around 40mm of rain, but it was too late to salvage some of the canola that was sown earlier.

“We still have some canola, but it is really variable; we are about six weeks behind where crops should be,” he said.

Mr Mulcahy said that given the high costs of production, growers needed canola prices to rise.

Marshall Rodda of Tarranyurk. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Marshall Rodda of Tarranyurk said that after watching canola prices go into the low $600s a tonne back in January and February this year, the recent price turnaround was needed.

“It is great to see, and hopefully that price will hold through until harvest time,” he said.

Mr Rodda said less canola had been sown in his area due to dry seasonal conditions at planting.

“We are a little bit behind where we should be, and there have been some frosts that have affected growth,” he said.

Western Australian grower Barry Large of Miling said he had no canola in the rotation this year due to the tough seasonal conditions.

“It is all in bags in the shed,” he said.

Grain Producers Australia president Barry Large, of Miling, Western Australia. Picture: Supplied

Mr Large said that normally, canola accounts for 15 to 20 percent of his winter cropping program, but this year, he didn’t plant any.

He said the price increase was welcome, and it was a case of supply and demand, with concerns that there would be less available at harvest.

“The crop is starting to look better in the west, but we need a kind spring to get through,” he said.

“Most crops here are at 10 to 30 per cent flowering; normally, at this time of the year, they would be at 70 to 100 per cent flowering,” he said.