TRACTORS have been fired up across Millicent and district in the past month as adequate rainfall has allowed farmers to sow their winter crops.
One such paddock to see activity is a 30ha landholding facing the Princes Highway at Sebastopol.
Landowner Garry Schulz has arranged for contractor Steve Telfer to put in a broad bean crop.
The land has been in Mr Schulz’s family since the turn of the nineteenth century almost 120 years ago.
It was bought by his maternal grandfather Bert Collins and has been passed down through the family.
For the past 15 seasons, it has been sown to broad beans and Mr Schulz is hopeful of a better financial return for his 2018 crop.
“The price has been well below expectation in the past few years,” Mr Schulz said.
“It has dropped to about $400 per tonne … the yields do not change very much.
“It was too wet a couple of years ago and you sometimes get problems with frosts and a dry finish.”
Before the switch to broad beans, the Schulz land produced freezer peas.
This is ironic as Mr Schulz had undertaken his fitting and welding apprenticeship at the former Pict Peas processing facility in Millicent.
With his trade qualifications, Mr Schulz has combined his farm work over the past 40 years with off-farm employment at places such as Olympic Dam and the Kimberly-Clark Australia Millicent Mill.
Meanwhile, Millicent Agricultural Bureau past president Chris Bateman said the season had broken in the district.
“There was a hot and dry summer and a later start than what we want to see,” he said.
“The warm ground allows grass for feed to germinate and grow well.
“The heavy ground has been slower to get growing.”
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said there was a drier than usual outlook for parts of Western Victoria and South East South Australia in coming months.
“Our outlook suggests Mount Gambier has around a 50pc chance of exceeding the median rainfall of approximately 270mm for May to July,” a BOM spokesperson said.
“As you move higher up the state towards the Upper South East, the chance of reaching median rainfall reduces further.”
