Hi, I’m Matt Hyde. I'm a fifth-generation farmer from Dalwallinu, WA, about 2.5 hours north of Perth. Working alongside my parents Harry and Jane, we manage 7,500ha of land with 100% crop rotation of wheat, lupins, canola and field peas.
This year has been a rollercoaster of a season. While historically we receive an average rainfall of 280mm, we were coming off the back of a dry year last year combined with a late dry start, and as a result expectations and optimism were very low. Fortunately, we had a great June and July receiving 50mm and 70mm respectively. This really turned the season around and now the crops are looking very good with couple of weeks left to go. At this stage, we have finished most post applications, and aside from any insects that may arrive, we are now focused out of the paddock and in the shed preparing for harvest.
This year decision making, especially around inputs, has been very difficult. With the rapid change in growing conditions trying to keep up with the crop and account for the lateness in the season has been near-impossible. How effective those choices have been will only become clear once the header gets stuck in.
The hope going forward is that we will be able to integrate more sensors and models to help us better understand the seasons and probable outcomes to provide us with the ability to make more informed decisions throughout the growing season.
I’m proud to be an Aussie grain grower as the grain industry requires constant innovation. The push for continual improvement by all farmers means the industry as a whole keeps evolving and moving forwards, and I think the prospect of pushing new boundaries is very exciting.
Matt is also a participant in this year’s GrainGrowers Australian Grain Leaders Program (AGLP). Read more about his experience and program project on focused on mitigating risk on farm here.