Wheat season set to surpass predictions

Farmers in Victoria’s Mallee and Wimmera regions have avoided disappointment this season with some expecting above average wheat yields.

With just weeks to go before headers are out in paddocks across Victoria’s Mallee and Wimmera regions, this year’s crops are set to defy expectations.

Fox and Miles managing director Rob Fox, pictured, who works as an agronomist for Marnoo farmer John Newall, said Mr Newall’s wheat crop was shaping up to deliver a yield above the area’s long term average of between 3 tonnes hectare and 3.5 tonnes/ha.

“We started the season with a full profile of moisture and had a very favourable June with above average rainfall,” Mr Fox said.

If the season delivered, it would be the “third good year in a row” for growers around Marnoo.

“You don’t get to see that very often,” he said.

Agronomist Rob Fox in a wheat crop at Marnoo. Picture: Zoe Phillips

And dry spring weather meant a perfect opportunity to prepare crops for harvest.

“It has helped manage disease pressure. We’ve been able to get onto paddocks, get things done on time and execute fungicide strategies,” he said.

Mr Fox, who works with clients across Victoria’s Mallee, Wimmera and Western districts, said many farmers were expecting above-average harvests this year, though those in the Brim, Birchip, and Loddon areas were looking at average seasons.

“There’s not too many disappointed farmers around,” Mr Fox said.

“Compared to what the season was pictured as, it’s going to be pretty different to that.”