Riverina’s fields of gold

According to the Australian Grains Export Innovation Centre, Australian canola is sought after globally for its use as a food-grade oil, for biofuel production and as a stock feed.

“Australian canola production is on the rise; averaging more than three million metric tonnes annually, making up 15–20 per cent of the world’s export trade,” the AGEIC says.

“Canola is well known for producing one of the world’s healthiest vegetable oils and its importance as an environmentally-friendly biofuel is growing.

“Australian canola is grown using sustainable farming systems and can be certified as meeting sustainability criteria for market access to Europe for use in biofuel.

“Production of canola in Australia has increased dramatically to an average of three million metric tonnes (mmt) per year.”

While it has been a somewhat challenging year for some, a cool and dry finish could deliver some reasonable returns for the district canola farmers.

Wet conditions at sowing did create some delays, with a wetter than normal winter and a few hot days in the lead up to spring taking their toll on some fields.

But as a whole, Nutrien Ag Solutions Finley agronomist Hayden Lunn is predicting local production will be on par with previous years.

“All the soils got deep moisture at the start of the season, so the dryland yield should be good with a cooler finish.

“If it is hot and dry though, we’ll see a few more flowers drop off than we have seen already.

“Dryland yields should be about 2.5 tonne (to the hectare) for most, which is on par with previous seasons.

“Those sown late will drop a bit from that.

“And some farmers who did a bit of watering up, only for it to be followed by some heavy rains, may see a detrimental impact.

“But overall it should be a nice to above average yield”.

For irrigated canola growers, Mr Lunn is predicting an average yield of three tonnes per hectare.

This is also on par with previous seasons.

“Some may even get as high at 4.5 tonnes,” he predicted.

“But, there are some who missed urea, or reduced the rate of urea, because of the shortage.

“That will also have an impact.”

Mr Lunn said disease will also play a role in final yields, saying aerial blackleg did infect some district crops this year.

Blackleg, caused by the fungus Leptosphaeria maculans, is the most serious disease of canola in Australia.

The severity of blackleg has risen in recent years due to increased acreage and intensity of production.

Blackleg survives on canola stubble producing fruiting bodies that contain large quantities of airborne spores (capable of travelling several kilometres).

These dark coloured raised fruiting bodies (pseudothecia) can easily be seen with the naked eye.

In the autumn and winter, rainfall triggers spore release from the stubble.

Within two weeks of spores landing on canola cotyledons and young leaves, clearly visible off-white coloured lesions develop, within the lesion pycnidial fruiting bodies (dark coloured dots) release rain-splashed spores.

“The disease is not that prevalent really, but it is noticeable in some areas,” Mr Lunn said.

“We also had a bit of frost damage.”

Finley grower Paul Bramley said while he is confident his canola crop will perform as well as well as other seasons, he said it was still a little early to accurately estimate his yield potential.

“It is too hard to say right now, because it all hinges on the next few weeks,” he said.

“I’m not liking the idea of the heat that is coming our way, but I don’t think the crop will be a failure either.

“You don’t really know what the yield will be until you put the lie detector in the field, as we say,” he said, referring to the header.

Mr Bramley has 230 hectares of Diamond canola in the ground across his Finley holdings, sowing on time around Anzac Day this year.

He expects harvest to begin about November 15.

Diamond is Mr Bramley’s preferred variety as it tends to outperform others, and he said the late sowing capability suits him.

He would normally grow about 300ha of canola, but “the way the rotation worked out” did not accommodate a similar sized crop this year.

But the greater demand and better price for wheat did also play a part in his decision making.

He has 450ha sown to wheat across his holdings, specifically the Beckom variety.

Mr Bramley has been growing wheat in the Southern Riverina since 2007, and added canola to his rotation in 2010.

He’s only ever missed one year of canola in that time, with conditions in 2019 not suitable for canola.

In terms of other winter crops, Mr Lunn said some farmers are making the decision to cut some barley crops for hay.

He said this is due to the demand for hay, and the attractive prices.