Canola rises $19 a tonne as growers warn profits hinge on yield
Despite canola hitting $805 a tonne, drought-affected farmers face an anxious wait to see if their struggling crops will deliver enough grain to turn a profit.
Canola has lifted by $19 a tonne over the past month to $805, but growers warn only solid yields will make the crop profitable.
Farmers in southern NSW and Victoria are estimating yields between 1 and 2.5 tonnes per hectare, saying they will need the higher end to make the oilseed crop pay.
A month ago, canola was trading at $786 a tonne, while a year ago it sat at $798 - but the recent rise offers little comfort after a challenging season with limited growing-season rain.
IK Caldwell agronomist Paul Lavis of Corowa said windrowing in his area had started already but harvest was probably two weeks off.
“We are seeing a lot of small grain,” he said.
Mr Lavis said crops had held on despite the small amounts of rainfall. He tipped yields in the region to vary from 1.5 to 2 tonnes a hectare.
He said farmers were taking the crop to harvest, and none had been cut for hay.
Wheat crops had also struggled from the dry season and were tipped to yield in the vicinity of 3 to 4 tonnes a hectare.
Birchip farmer John Ferrier has already windrowed most of his canola. He was planning to harvest the better performing parts of the crop, and the lower yielding areas would wait for direct heading.
He also agreed with the benchmark yield estimates of anything from 1 tonne a hectare through to 2.5 tonnes a hectare.
“We often direct head our canola, but this year we have decided to windrow the better paddocks and hopefully that will bring them in more evenly at harvest,” he said.
He measured 12mm in the gauge late last week and there were more showers again on Friday.
Mr Ferrier said the better price for canola was welcome.
“Canola is one of the reasonably priced crops and we might take some of that value at harvest, rather than store on farm,” he said.
However, wheat prices were not looking so good. And it was likely that crop would be stored.
Brocklesby, southern NSW farmer, Justin Everitt said after inspecting his canola this week there were large amounts of “small and shrivelled grains”.
He said there were some good crops, capable of defying the season, but many were struggling too.
And while the slight uptick in prices was certainly welcome he said the higher end of the yield range was needed to make the crop profitable.
At his place the winter crops had received around 200mm of growing season rain. This was far short of the typical 300mm to 400mm that would usually arrive.
“We are expecting some scattered showers in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
Mr Everitt had cut some crops for hay already and said windrowing would start shortly.
