Any comment sorgs, MM, JC ... noodle wheat $390, apw $315 here in WA, canola $560, malt $370. Won't be much malt 1 around. Malt2 the window everyone is targeting with grading. Screenings around 50%. Wheat could be interesting too ... yields on barley ok considering (hearing averaging around 2-2.5t/ha in areas around the 200-230mm growing season mark)
NSW Growers now fear a cruel blow from the cost of the frost: - GABRIELLE JOHNSTON
The best wheat crop prospects in a decade have been dealt a cruel blow in many parts of the grainbelt after cold weather and strong winds left a trail of frost damaged and flattened crops, wiping millions of dollars off the value of the upcoming harvest. Some Canola crops have also recorded frost damage, but most problems have been in wheat, according to Forbes Landmark agronomist, Jim Cronin. He said every day more stories were emerging of frost damage at Forbes, Lake Cargelligo, Grenfell, Parkes and Temora, incurred during the past month. His ?gut feeling? was as much as 30 per cent of early sown crops had been halved in value, with damage ranging between just five per cent and 80pc. ?Around Forbes, early sown crops are the most severely damaged,? Mr Cronin said. ?Forbes is historically not a frost risk area. ?It?s not often we?re lucky enough to get high grain prices when we?ve got high yields, but we?ve seen it this year, so it?s just a real kick in the guts to get a frost when the crop is looking so good.? Agronomist, Stephen Todd, at Agman Consulting in Forbes, said the damage was ?shocking?, with some pockets suffering severe hits. ?Some growers out there have potentially lost 50pc of their crop over their entire cropping area,? he said ?What makes it so upsetting is the potential these crops had, and the fact we haven?t harvested much grain in the last 10 years. It?s really a massive blow. ?Farmers are very resilient, but it?s just heartbreaking.? Forbes farmers, Neil Mattiske, ?Sunny Dale?, and his nephew, Scott Mattiske, ?Kara Kara?, estimated their losses would add up to at least $500,000 between the two properties, and they are not the worst hit. Scott Mattiske said some farmers had suffered 80pc to 100pc losses in some paddocks, and at his place the losses were between 20pc to 60pc across a 1000-hectare wheat crop. ?On top of the severe frost damage, the crop has also been hit by wind, which makes it a little bit harder to get your head around,? Scott Mattiske said. He said wind gusts had been up to 80 and 90 kilometres an hour. Neil Mattiske said he faced similar losses to his nephew with his 800ha of wheat, which had grown into a ?massive? crop.
Mr Mattiske said to get a good return on the overseas market this year, he put extra effort and expense into fertiliser to lift protein and yield, making the weather damage a double blow. Because of wind, he said harvest would now take double the time to complete, and would therefore be more expensive.
?I don?t think I?ve seen a crop like this lying down all twisted up from the wind since the 1970s,? he said. ?But the main thing is the crop is there. Let?s get it off and get it in before we get any more weather damage.? South-west of Forbes at Corinella, Stuart French, Manna Station, escaped the worst of any wind damage, but his 24,000ha of wheat was hit by frost. ?From what we can ascertain at this stage, the damage varies from 90pc down to just five per cent,? he said. ?We?ll put the header into everything because for us it?s very hard to know exactly how much damage is there, but it appears to be quite significant. We just don?t know what to expect. ?It?s a bit demoralising coming off the back of what has effectively been an eight- or a nine-year drought. ?To have a fantastic season that looks like delivering so much potential and then have this happen is tough, but Mother Nature is what she is I guess.? END
