Looking around the Wakool district at the moment there is a general feeling of positivity that I haven’t seen for years.
Rain has been the catalyst.
We’ve had one of the best starts that I can remember, giving us immediate benefit and giving us optimism that it can and will rain properly again.
On the 15th we received a 3% allocation. Only 3%, but a bit like the rain, it’s proof that it can still happen. Talking to growers in my area, some are dusting off the calculators, taking a stab at the C21 paddy price and taking a hard look the temporary water price.
The rain has meant that most people are pulling back from supplementary livestock feeding for the first time in two years, and have confidently been able to sow winter crops with a good moisture profile.
Another positive is that it feels like (and we hope) we’re on the tail end of coronavirus. It’s been a pretty good time to be living in rural Australia and working in the industry that we do. And it’s actually given us the chance to get traction on our food security messages.
I’m sure we’ll look back in years to come and wonder why rice ran a distant second to toilet paper when the run on supermarkets started.
One upside to come out of the lockdown is the extra time spent with kids. There has been the chance to do a few long promised building and toy repair jobs, lots of paddock and tractor picnics and a couple of days fishing (on farm of course!). For those of us with kids, the home-schooling experience will have strengthened our appreciation for the work teachers do too.
Best wishes to everyone for the rest of the sowing season (and harvest if you’re still going). Stay safe.
Michael Chalmers,
President Wakool RGA Branch