Salmon Gums famer Rory Graham. Photo: Ben Croswaith.
Canola growers are heading for a bumper year thanks to a decent amount of rain through most of this year’s growing season.
This is despite a certain amount of frost damage to inland districts from a cold snap one night earlier this month.
Salmon Gums farmer Rory Graham said it would probably be one of their better canola years.
“It’s all finished flowering and I’d love a little rain to finish it but it’s still looking pretty good,” he said.
“The rest of it’s all looking nice but we’d love some rain.
“It hasn’t been too wet but just been very nice all the way through.”
Mr Graham said they were assessing frost damage and they routinely budgeted for a 15 per cent crop loss due to frost.
“There’s hollows that have been frosted out that we pretty much get every year,” he said.
“The hollows are 50 per cent frosted and it would be nearly up to our budgeted 15 per cent frost.
Over at Condingup, Richard Fowler said they had not seen frost for years as they were close to the coast.
“Our canola has finished flowering and it’s podding quite rapidly because it’s got plenty of moisture in the ground,” he said.
“Probably by around the third week in October we will be starting to swath, cutting it into rows so it dries out and we pick it up with the combine harvesters.
“It could be quite a heavy crop, predictions are for a good return.”
Mr Fowler said a lot of his family’s crop was “Roundup ready” hybrid canola so they could not desiccate the canola in the ground.”
Munglinup farmer Gavin Gibson said the season had started out “a bit wet” in April.
“Since then its rained at the right times and its ticking along,” he said.
Mr Gibson stopped short of calling a bumper crop.
“At this stage its going to be OK,” he said.
“I think it’ll be reasonably hopeful, it’s still got to do its thing.”
Mr Gibson said they may have had small amounts of frost.
“It was cold for a little period of time but that’s about it,” he said.
“We are just ticking along. Hopefully the next 3-4 weeks are kind to us and we don’t get any hot windy days and should be ok.
“We are just about at the end of flowering.”
