Dusty Pascoe of Raywood considering summer crops after rain

A dryland farmer has planted sorghum after late-season rain in a bid to have more summer feed.

After 60mm of rain fell at Raywood in November, one farmer has decided to plant sorghum as a summer crop.

It’s not something that would typically occur in that region.

However, Dusty Pascoe of Raywood said he believed there was an opportunity to make use of the late-season rainfall.

After the November rain, his property received another 10mm in December before the hot weather started to take hold.

“We are sowing 70ha of sorghum as a trial,” he said.

His property is traditionally a dryland winter cropping operation that also incorporates livestock.

Mr Pascoe said he had sown sorghum as part of a mix before and it could be used to thicken up some lucerne stands.

However, the crop this year was a stand-alone attempt at a summer crop.

He said it was early days yet but it was unlikely the sorghum would be taken through as a grain crop.

“I think we will use it as summer feed,” he said.

Dusty Pascoe of Raywood pictured earlier in the year after sowing barley. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Mr Pascoe said the writing had been on the wall for a while that the region was receiving late-season or summer rainfall.

He said the recent improvement in lamb prices had given him confidence to consider summer feed options too.

In the past week, Meat and Livestock Australia’s Trade Lamb Indicator increased 23.37c/kg and settled at 885.39c/kg.

The indicator shows prices for trade lambs have increased 254.82c/kg in the past year.

DLF Seeds agronomist Frank McRae of Orange, NSW, said the summer rainfall gave farmers confidence to sow what could traditionally be considered summer options or mixes.

“We are seeing more interest in planting crops that can later be used for grazing and provide summer feed for livestock,” he said.

“Even in this part of the world farmers have been sowing millet and sedan grass,” he said.

Mr McRae said silage and hay production was down in many areas despite the fact frost-affected crops were cut.

He said summer grazing crops were likely to become popular on the back of what could be perceived as less fodder on the market.

Rupanyup farmer Andrew Weidemann said there wasn’t an appetite for sowing summer crops in his area, but 2024 had demonstrated the benefits of using stored soil moisture.

He said farmers may still make decisions about sowing grazing varieties up until January depending on the late-season rainfall.

Mr Weidemann said results from 2024 had been good despite receiving about half the usual amount of in-crop rainfall.

“We have had paddocks achieve 4.2 tonnes/ha to 6.3 tonnes/ha for wheat,” he said.

Mr Weidemann said in his area, there was 140mm to 150mm of growing season rainfall.

“Normally, we would see 300mm of growing season rainfall,” he said.

He said that achieving the yields they had on limited rain was promising for crops.