By Heather Fleming.<\/p>\n
FARMERS across the region are counting the cost of last week\u2019s frosts, which have severely impacted many crops.<\/p>\n
Temperatures dropped to minus two on Tuesday last week and were followed by a minus three recording on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Gorst Rural Director and Agronomist, Cam Conboy, said few farms across the region were left unscathed, and that the areas around Westmere, Tatyoon, Yalla-Y-Poora and Rossbridge were the most severely affected.<\/p>\n
Gorst Rural staff members are still assessing damage, especially to wheat and canola. \u00a0<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Mr Conboy said crops had been suffering moisture stress throughout the growing season, and with only one-hundred and twenty to one-hundred and fifty millimetres of rain falling between April and October, they had \u201cstruggled the whole way.\u201d<\/p>\n The combination of dry conditions and the recent frosts have had a particularly devastating impact on potential yields.<\/p>\n Mr Conboy said while there may yet be something to harvest, it might only be \u201cslim pickings.\u201d<\/p>\n Agriculture Victoria Seasonal Risk Agronomist, Dale Boyd, said critical analysis during grain-fill would identify if frost had affected the crop. Step by step instructions for using the Department\u2019s crop yield calculator can be found online via the Agriculture Victoria website: Guide to estimating crop yields <\/em><\/a>– <\/em><\/a>Soil Moisture Monitoring | Soil Moisture<\/em><\/a> Monitoring (extensionaus.com.au)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Baling up crops for hay may be economically viable for some farmers, and Agriculture Victoria also provides information about this option.<\/p>\n Farmers are advised that frost impact can vary significantly across a paddock: light damage might still allow for recovery, or minimal yield loss, while severe damage will require alternative action. Low-lying areas, lighter soils and areas with heavy stubble retention are likely to suffer more.<\/p>\n Mr Conboy also noted that pasture growth has been reduced and that the bulk that was hoped for has not been achieved.<\/p>\n \u201cNot a lot of pasture hay will be cut, and finishing young stock will take some juggling.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c(However) it\u2019s phenomenal to see how much has grown on minimal rainfall: only six to seven inches in the old language. Clearly, improved techniques, variety selection, weed control, disease treatments and nutrition have all made a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n The impact of the dry season and late frosts on farmers will certainly be felt.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople will be struggling, especially having banked on a different result. The effect can be cumulative, and farmers can become worn down.\u00a0 Those involved more broadly in the agricultural industry, and the wider community will also experience the flow on effects when seasons are unforgiving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mr Conboy hopes something positive can be salvaged from the season.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully we\u2019ll still get a yield, keep the ground cover, and not degrade our soils. Today\u2019s farmers are acutely aware they are stewards of the land and are looking to protect it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FARMERS across the region are counting the cost of last week\u2019s frosts, which have severely impacted many crops.
\nTemperatures dropped to minus two on Tuesday last week and were followed by a minus three recording on Wednesday.
\nGorst Rural Director and Agronomist, Cam Conboy, said few farms across the region were left unscathed, and that the areas around Westmere, Tatyoon, Yalla-Y-Poora and Rossbridge were the most severely affected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[31],"class_list":["post-2706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Canola-pods-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdqUu4-HE","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2706"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theadvocate.net.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}