We farm around 1250ha at Bongeen on the Darling Downs in Queensland. We have black self mulching soils & grow corn, sorghum & wheat on a 3-year rotation. Due to the floodplain nature of our country, most paddocks are farmed in strips which help slow water during flood events. Our average rainfall is 25 inches, however over the last few years we have received a bit over that thanks to la Nina.
We have just about finished our sorghum harvest, the crop was hit by 2 hail storms within the last 6 weeks which has reduced yield significantly. Our late corn came off around 3 weeks ago which was also badly affected by the hail which came 2 weeks prior to the crop shutting down and was then followed by the second storm on Good Friday. Our early corn was a tremendous crop, thankfully not impacted by any hail. We have pre applied fertiliser for the upcoming winter crop & will be planting wheat in June/July which is the prime planting time for us. We will then roll back into corn & sorghum depending on rain leading into September.
Availability of parts & new machinery is one of our biggest issues. Parts availability has been an ongoing problem for the last 15 years, where instead of keeping parts in the rural areas where they are used, they are stored at warehouses in urban centres. Extra costs are then incurred freighting stock, plus the increased delays in obtaining parts in a timely manner which costs many of us growers time & affects our profitability. The recent increase in waiting times for new machinery is also of great concern. We are now have waiting times of 18-24 months for new machinery with no ability to lock in prices, which are increasing regularly.
While we are fortunate to have 2 permanent members of staff and no requirement for extras during harvest, the workforce issue affects us through both small and large businesses in our local towns who are unfortunately unable to get staff to complete work. Some repair jobs are being pushed out up to 20 weeks due to this issue. Unfortunately some of the smaller businesses in particular are deciding to close their doors due to this ongoing issue.
Photo: Clinton Kummerow, Haylee Ziesemer & Wayne Ziesemer