Hello. I am Scott Crosby, and I farm 8,500 hectares in Nyabing in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. On a farm of this size, we grow several crops including wheat, canola (both GM and non-GM), barley, buddy oats, thunder lentils and durian lupins. The legumes are part of the rotation, and we also grow a bit of vetch.
Our soil types are pretty typical for the district, ranging from sandy loams through to red clay and gravel lines. You could say we have some nice country, with some not-so-nice country thrown in for good measure.
When it comes to the magic ingredient of rain, we are indeed worse off than last year, having received around 190 millimetres in total, with some 130 millimetres falling during the growing part of the season. As a result, we have a genuine mixed bag with the crops. Some are probably a little better, while others are worse. With our canola, for example, some varieties are progressing well, but we also have some average canola, and the same is true for our barley. It's a bit all over the place. Our oats are generally not too bad, although I have noticed some light cover, with three germinations.
Last year, we also experienced a dry May, but this year I felt it was drier and hotter overall, which has negatively impacted the crops. Things are okay, but like many others, our crops could use a good drink. To give you an idea of the soil makeup, even after some rain last night, it was still possible to drive over the red clay, so it's certainly dry. I'm hoping that the recent rain, which we received in the range of 12-15 mm, continues, but the reality is that we need many more of those showers to persist over the next few months.
Currently, we are spraying and spreading fertiliser. We have completed the first lap of urea and started the second lap because the weather looked promising, but then we had to pull up due to the breeze.
In terms of soil improvement, in addition to urea, over the last 10 years, we have been treating hectares of rocky areas with the reefinator to crush the stones and improve the available topsoil. It's a constant process, but one that needs to be done if we are going to improve our production capacity.
Innovation-wise, we are already using a boom with individual nozzle control that is capable of spraying green on green, with the addition of a camera kit. We are evaluating our needs and assessing how the equipment performs before committing to further investment in this area.
When it comes to generational farming, our children are only starting high school, but they work with us, although they are not too thrilled about picking up rocks at the moment. While farming is our occupation, the importance of family and community is also significant. I am still actively involved as a local councillor for the Kent Shire and enjoy contributing back to the regional district in this way.