Welcome to the 2019 October Edition of eNote
At the time of writing the condition of crops and pastures across SE South Australia, Southern Wimmera and SW Victoria are good to excellent. However plants are now drawing on soil moisture reserves and follow up rainfall combined with cool conditions at grain fill will be required to maximise yield. Grain prices are firming nicely which could mean another strong year on the back of the 2018 season if the season is kind to us.
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In this edition we are focusing on critically important late season weed control in crops as well as frost identification and management and vaccination protocols in sheep. Attention is now rapidly turning to planning for the 2020 season. Our agronomists are hoping to meet with as many clients as possible pre harvest to put in place production strategies for next year. The advantages of doing this are significant and include putting in place plans for crop residues during harvest, the planning and as required scheduling contractors for earth works, organising seed requirements and preparation of budget information for financial planning.
Now is also a great time to review crop biomass imagery. NDVI is available free of charge to Western AG clients and is extremely valuable in identifying reduced biomass production areas which can be compared to yield map data. From this analysis strategic soil testing and site-specific management practices can be put in place to even up production in paddocks.
On a final note we are very pleased to announce that Grain Protect, a new business has begun operations based out of our Ballarat office. Grain Protect provides grain protection services to both grower and large bulk handling organisations. Kerry Miles, General Manager of Grain Protect is well known to many growers and has exceptional knowledge and expertise in this area. We encourage clients to make contact with Kerry to start planning storage strategies now. Full details on this services and grain protection strategies will be in our November eNote edition.
We hope you enjoy this edition of our newsletter and looking forward to assisting with your plans for the 2020 season.