Hi, my name is Chris Groves and together with my family we farm between Cowra and Canowindra in the Central West of NSW. We run a mixed farming operation with livestock, prime lamb production, and a range of cereal and pulse crops. We’ve got around 800 hectares under crop this season, and it’s been a race to get it all in.
Autumn was one of the driest we’ve seen in 30 years, leading to a late start and dry sowing, particularly for canola, which has resulted in patchy germination. July brought 59mm of rain, which helped us recover in the short term. Now, we’re hoping for a wetter spring, with forecasts suggesting heavier rainfall later in the season. If that eventuates, we could still be looking at an above-average year.
Our soils range from river-based types in the lower country to the classic red clay loams of Cowra – it’s great cropping country. Our rolling average rainfall sits around 600mm, but we’re currently tracking at less than half of that. There’s still potential to catch up before year’s end.
The wheat is looking strong following a nitrogen top-up, and plant density across the board is encouraging. We’re monitoring leaf tests and weather forecasts closely to decide on further nutrient applications. Fungicide hasn’t gone on yet and canola is about a month behind usual flowering timelines, so we’re expecting to apply around 10% flowering in 3–4 weeks.
Due to the dry autumn, we’re doing a lot of intensive lamb feeding. Lambs are locked up and fed daily via a tub mixer. We’ve also thrown in a fair bit of dryland lucerne, which could be a valuable asset if summer rain arrives, helping patch up the bank account after a tough cropping season.
Dry sowing and uneven germination have been key challenges, alongside the usual input cost pressures. We locked in much of our urea early, which has helped, but fungicide and other costs still need close monitoring. On the upside, canola is looking promising, and if the wheat market holds, there’s still good money in growing quality crops.
I see a lot of exciting opportunities ahead for growers. In the next 50 years, the world’s population will eat more food than it ever has. If that’s not grown or produced by farmers, then where will it come from?