Winter brings rain to the Wheatbelt at the right time for Narrogin farmers

Third-generation farmer Damian McEllister has been busy on the family’s cropping and sheep property east of Narrogin on Yilliminning Road carrying out selective spraying as winter bears down. “The focus at the moment is getting the nitrogen on the crops before the rain,” Mr McEllister said. “Seeding this year was pretty smooth, we had no major breakdowns and most of it was seeded into moisture. “The last of it went in dry but a week later we got all that rain so I can’t complain really — I’m a bit of a go with the flow kind of farmer, it is what it is.” In between spraying and tending to the soil Mr McEllister has been kept busy with sheep work. “They complement each other sheep and grain and until recently sheep has outperformed cropping,” he said. “The last couple of years grain prices and yields have been pretty good Statewide really.” The McEllister farm grows a mixture of canola, oats, barley and some wheat — standard grains for the Wheatbelt South. “Generally most people will have a canola-growing element to their program, canola will go in first typically then oats, barley and wheat,” Mr McEllister said. “Our canola missed the first rain event so it took a bit longer to come up but our oats are tracking nicely.” Further down the Great Southern has seen a much drier start to the season. “It’s been very dry down there which is unusual,” Mr McEllister said. “Kojonup inland and south, Borden and Gnowangerup, they were really hanging out for rain down there.” Despite a short dry spell following the first rains of the year after Easter, the weather in the lower Wheatbelt has been comparable to the same time last year though slightly under in rainfall. “It put some stress on the plants but over the last two weeks we’ve had plenty of rain and it’s been a text book start to the season,” Mr McEllister said. “Even if we had a dry rest of June it wouldn’t matter, we’ve got enough moisture there as long as we’ve got rain in the distance. “Now it’s wet and people are getting bogged, it changes very quickly, that’s farming — it comes and goes.”