Central Wheatbelt grain farmers start season on strong footing, seeding early in the wake of light rainfall

West Australian

15-05-2025

It's a tale of two seasons in the Wheatbelt amid a mixed start in the State's top growing regions.
Central Wheatbelt grain farmers began seeding unseasonably early in the wake of light rain in mid-March, starting the season on strong footing.
Crops are also up and away in Esperance and the Great Southern, with canola and early-sown barley crops doing well.
However, it is a different story for grain growers in the Mid West, which is mostly dry and has little subsoil moisture available to risk sowing.
The Grain Industry Association of WA predicted in May more than 8.6 million hectares had been put to grain crops in WA this year, including wheat, barley, canola, oats, lupins and pulses.
That is down from the April estimate of between 8.5 million and 9 million due to persistent dry conditions in the top third of the State's grain-growing region.
GIWA said a majority of growers were sticking to their plans for now.
York farmer Alex Davies, pictured, is optimistic about the year ahead after putting in 1000ha each of wheat, barley and oats on their 4000ha property, leaving the non-arable land for roughly 2000 sheep.
Mr Davies rolled his air seeder out of the shed on April 1 — three weeks ahead of previous years ahead of predicted light rainfall in mid-April and following the 19.1mm that fell on his property in mid-March.
With two new crop varieties and a solid start to the year, the third-generation farmer said he had done his best to set up the farm for positive results to come from the 2025 season.
'We've got some new varieties in that are a bit of a change — Vortex wheat and Goldie oats,' he said.
'Our focus has also shifted to oats and canola this year as they were forecast to be our best earners.'