‘Shattered’: Canola growers face huge losses

Canola growers in NSW and Victoria face huge yield losses this season after heavy rain and hail in November.

Huge yield losses are expected in Victorian canola crops this season, with some growers likely unable to harvest crops until January or February.

Rupanyup grower and Grain Producers Australia southern region director Andrew Weidemann said last weekend’s heavy rain had compounded problems in already saturated paddocks and as much as two thirds of yields could be lost in some areas.

“A lot of paddocks just won’t be windrowed because they’re too wet to get on,” he said.

“Drivers are wearing pulling (machinery) out, crops are big, heavy, lodged. It’s really problematic,” he said.

“If you can’t get a windrower on the paddock, I don’t know how the headers are going to get on there.”

Flooded canola in Powlett Plains after heavy rain in October. Picture: Zoe Phillips

To anticipate what could happen to this season’s crop, Mr Weidemann said he had been reflecting on the 2010 season, when extremely wet conditions led to big yield losses for canola.

“In 2010 … I saw neighbours that had three-tonne crops going back to one-tonne crops.

“Losses can be quite extreme in years like this, when we get a lot of wet, dry, wet, dry. The pods are split open, and then with the windy conditions, they’ll just shatter on the ground.”

Some growers in the Mallee and Wimmera have already experienced major losses after hail events in November.

Canola damaged during a hailstorm in November. Picture: Marty Colbert

Agri Business Consulting Group senior consultant agronomist Martin Colbert said he had assessed damage caused by hailstorms on November 1 and November 10.

On November 1, crops south of Horsham, as far north as Werrimull in the Victorian Millewa and Loxton in South Australia suffered losses of 20 to 30 per cent in standing canola.

On November 10, “several thousand hectares” across the South Australian Mallee were hit with an even larger storm.

“That was convective hail. There was a lot of it, it came with a great height and was a large size,” Mr Colbert said.

Canola was severely affected with yield losses of 80 to 90 per cent.

“The crop was a lot more mature in that one-week time-frame so that damage was a lot more severe,” he said.

Wheat crops hit by the same event suffered losses of 15 to 20 per cent, and barley lost between 20 and 30 per cent.

“With a long, protracted harvest, there’s a greater length of time for a crop to be out there and get hit with hail.”

Canola damaged during a hailstorm in November. Picture: Marty Colbert

In its latest crop report released on Thursday, the Australian Oilseeds Federation forecast record canola crops in South Australia and Western Australia this season, while wet conditions were expected to set back growers on the east coast.

All canola growing regions, with the exception of WA, experienced decile 10+ rainfall in October.

NSW had experienced its “wettest growing season for decades, and possibly on record”, according to the report.

Staggered establishment, abandoned crops and a “generally higher fungal disease pressure” would all contribute to lower yields this season.

“An average yield of 1.6t/ha has been applied to the area (in NSW) to be harvested as crops that have done well, have done very well, offsetting the crops that have faired poorly,” the report said.

Wild night of weather but @MckinleyMatt & his windrowing team pushed on with success. pic.twitter.com/4VztkZH3l9

— Grassroots Agronomy (@grassrootsag) November 12, 2022

About 10 per cent of crops in Victoria may have been lost as a result of heavy rain in October. November losses were not accounted for in the report.

SA was expected to a harvest a record crop, with an average yield just over 2t/ha. Total production in WA could exceed 4 million tonnes — a new record — after ideal finishing conditions produced pods with larger than usual seed size. Average yields of 2.17t/ha could conservatively be achieved, higher than the WA average of 1.5t/ha.