Early seeding finish Hyden aim

It's been a textbook start for much of the south-eastern Wheatbelt, but farmers right across the region are now anxiously waiting for follow-up rain.

For Hyden farmers Paul and Colin Green, if all goes according to plan, their entire 13,500ha program will be in the ground by the middle of this month.

The brothers began seeding in early April, and their canola is already at the five-leaf stage.

With a full profile of sub-soil moisture allowing for good early germination, the business is on track for, at worst, a break-even year.

But according to Paul Green, the strong early start has created significant optimism in the district this year.

Mr Green said the early rains allowed for a double knock across the entire farm, and with significant moisture in the profile coupled with warm soil the season was on-track to be very positive.

"It has been a very good start, it certainly beats the alternative," he said.

While the seeding program is a dusty affair, Mr Green said good moisture was only 100mm from the surface, with 45mm received in March.

Stubble retention has meant summer and early autumn rainfall has been well conserved, something that is critical for a successful year in this part of the Wheatbelt.

The Greens will plant wheat, canola, barley and some faba beans and peas as a break crops.

"Out here, faba beans and peas are more of an opportunistic crop for those early wet starts," he said.

"Our seed for both crops has been sitting in the silos for the past four years, so it's not often we see these opportunities."

With frost a major issue for this area, the Greens believe Yitpi is still the most profitable wheat variety for their business.

"We plant Mace, but Yitpi is still a proven performer. The WA-bred wheats don't seem to handle the frost as well," he said.

"I can seed deep with Yitpi with confidence knowing it will come to the surface.

"There have also been two or three years when we have had rain in October and Yitpi has re-flowered, which has been a significant bonus."

Mr Green said, like all challenges facing farmers in the eastern Wheatbelt, the impacts of frost on long-term profit averages was always calculated in to every budget.

"The last really devastating frost we experienced was in 2008. Frost is always in the back of our minds, which is why we have waited until now to plant our barley and wheat," he said.

"We've tried everything to counteract the impact of frost, and nothing works with any level of significance."

Mr Green estimates break-even costs are about one tonne per hectare, and nitrogen inputs are all put up-front.

"In low rainfall areas, you don't have the luxury to play the season," he said.

"Nitrogen costs $15 to $20 per hectare, and so if only half of that is used by the plant we are better off, since it costs a minimum of $10/ha to get the spreader out of the shed at a later date."

But Mr Green said the canola would receive a nitrogen top up at the bolt stage.

After a run of poor seasons that have seen mortgagee sales right across the area, Mr Green said the surviving businesses were now getting extremely good at minimising costs.

"After five years of not much rain, followed by severe frosts, we've all had to learn to live on minimal rainfall and low inputs," he said.

In the eastern Wheatbelt, every dollar saved, and every moment capitalised on during the seeding period, translates into profit at the other end of the season.

For the Greens, seeding a 13,500ha program is a massive undertaking, and labour has proven to be one of the biggest challenges facing the business.

Mr Green said he no longer employed unskilled labour.

"With the downturn in the mining industry this year, we have been able to secure skilled workers, and it's worth our while to pay good wages for this labour," he said.

"We only have to save a few minutes here and there over the entire program to make it worth our while financially in the long run."

Mr Green said the long-term skilled labour shortage, particularly in the south-eastern Wheatbelt, was the biggest constraint to the expansion of his business going forward.

"When you look at issues such as our town losing its Year 7 school class that has meant four families have left the district. The impact of that is huge," he said.

He said farmers here also had to be innovative.

Mr Green, who is also a Nuffield scholar, has engineered his own knife point out of a strong grade of tungsten.

The point is angled to cut through tough stubble and lasts up to 8000ha, compared to other commercial points which may only last 4000ha.