Mount Mercer farmer wraps harvest in time for Christmas

One century of farming and the “easiest harvest we’ve ever had”. Rob Cameron and his family have finished the program in time for Christmas.

A Mount Mercer farming family has reached its 100th year with the “easiest harvest we’ve ever had”, and will finish on time for Christmas.

Fourth-generation farmer Rob Cameron hoped to harvest 7 tonnes a hectare in his wheat, and reached about 6.5t/ha on average. Meanwhile, canola averaged 2.4t/ha and peaked at 4.5t/ha, with barley yet to be harvested.

“We used a Horsch Avatar disc seeder (for sowing) and it sowed 30 per cent of canola in January to mitigate the water logging, but it ended up being a dry year,” he said.

They sowed the rest in March and April, which performed twice as well.

“It’s been one of the easiest years I’ve ever cropped. We didn’t get any water logging, we haven’t been bogged at all,” he said.

“We got bogged 150 times in 2022, which was a pretty dark point in our lives. Disease pressure was low this year, there’s no wheel tracks to work around.”

Rob Cameron and his father Andy, harvesting canola at Mount Mercer. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

They usually averaged 700mm of rain for the year but recorded about 450mm, with rain at the “right times” but falling short.

Meanwhile, the family also trialled new ideas on the farm, which stemmed from Rob’s father Andy and his grandfather John’s tests in the 80s.

”(They) would grow linseed undersowing with white clover, and we’re going to go back to that to get the white clover established,” Rob said.

Their first trial was a “tremendous success” with wheat on clover to avoid waterlogging risks.

Rob Cameron, his father Andy, dog Molly pictured harvesting canola, with their truck driver Aleliesha Harbour from Yendon, Mount Mercer. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

After the wheat, Rob sowed long-season canola, which yielded 4t/ha, and he said they hoped to replicate the idea on a larger scale.

“We have to have success, and this is a way of increasing the success rate and have a legume that’s giving back,” he said.

But for now, Rob and his family will be enjoying Christmas at the beach.

“I’ve never known to finish before Christmas, it’s always been the sore point of cropping down here. It feels very relaxing, it’s a great weight off our shoulders and we can actually enjoy Christmas,” he said.