Field wheat comp's top crops in tough season

Timely rainfall in a tough season has resulted in some outstanding crops to the north west of Parkes. Tullamore's Nigel and Lachlan Porter, along with Peak Hill's Josh Male, have been named regional finalists in the AgShows NSW Dryland Field Wheat Competition, for their strong wheat crops this year. Backed by Suncorp, the AgShows NSW Dryland Field Wheat Competition highlights the industry’s gold standard and provides a opportunity for growers to come together, share knowledge, and learn from one another. The two finalists have enjoyed a decent season, with both stating they managed to get rain at the right times, which helped them maintain decent moisture for their wheat crops. However, both said rain has been patchy across their respective areas. Lachlan Porter said they are really happy with how their season has gone, and how well their crops have performed despite how dry it has been. The Porters sowed the earlier-season Raider variety wheat on the back of an early Autumn break. "It seemed pretty dry and we got an early break around early May and we just had the moisture there," he said. Mr Porter said they were a little lucky getting a bit of early rain at the right time, and the further north east they went the better it was. Josh Male is looking at potentially the best crop he has seen thanks to the timeliness of the rainfall on his property - and it was his agronomist who urged him to enter the crop competition. He entered a crop of Lancer wheat - a variety he's liked for a long time for its consistently good performance. He's also got barley and canola in this season. "It's been a very good year. We're very fortunate to have the timely rain and the amounts of rain we have had," he said. "We've been very lucky because a lot of other people, even not far away from here have missed out on a lot of crucial rain that we've managed to get under." Mr Male's about 45km west of Peak Hill and noted the seasonal conditions that favoured him this year were unusual. "You don't have go very far to the west or even to the south where they didn't have the start I had. So we were very lucky," he said. Traditionally, Mr Male said those rains usually head over Peak Hill, and he prioritises soil moisture conservation and staying on top of summer spraying. Tullamore Show Society's Wayne McMahon acknowledged the year had been a tough one, with much of the area only getting smaller rainfall of 10 to 15mm through the growing season. There's still a good number of wheat crops, canola and some pretty handy barley crops in the district.