Crops are slow to come off this season as harvest drags the chain and arable farmers look to the weather gods for a run of sunny summer days.
Across New Zealand, harvesting is being hampered by the lack of sunshine and, while crops are generally looking good, farmers fear a repeat of last season’s disastrously wet harvest.
Up until the past couple of weeks summer, conditions had helped crops across the country with optimism in the North Island and promising crops in the South, where the weather had set up Canterbury and Southland for a good season.
“We need some settled weather now. The crops don’t need any more rain and we don’t want to end up in a harvest season like last year,” Mid Canterbury Federated Farmers arable chair Darrell Hydes said.
“Last year’s harvest was a disaster, it was a tough season with the rain right through and this year crops are doing well and generally looking all right but we want settled weather to get them in.”
Early cereal crops are ripening but the region is not alive with harvesters yet.
Clover crops are beginning to suffer the effect of recent rain with bulky foliage smothering the flowers, but Hydes said grain is holding up so far.
With rapeseed harvested this week, Hydes, like many farmers, is now cutting grasses. Fescue and cocksfoot are the first to go down.
“After a tough one last year we really need a good harvest this season as we are all battling the forever rising input prices especially with seed, fertiliser, diesel and ongoing compliance costs.
“Hopefully grain will hold up, we know the northern hemisphere has had a really good [herbage] seed harvest in ryegrasses and while we are in a better position here now with the seed companies given a lot of work that has been done there, we are not likely to get enough to cover the extra costs this season.
“There is a worry that grain might go the same way depending on the Australian harvest and international pricing,” Hydes said.
The latest Grain and Feed Insight reports Australia’s harvest for the 2022-23 season has yet again been forecast up and is anticipated to break records with the nation set for significant yield increases.
Australia’s wheat production forecast has increased another 5.4 million tonnes to a record 42 million tonnes.
Agribusiness economists at National Australia Bank said the harvest’s increase can be attributed to higher yield. Western Australia, the largest exporting state, has “performed very well” and is expected to increase output from the previous forecast of 13 million tonnes to a record 16 million tonnes.
It is being reported that ports are preparing for the exports, with many ports reportedly fully booked for wheat shipments in March through April, pushing buyers into the months further ahead.
Despite the increased yield, heavy rain through much of the nation, particularly the east coast, has led to many growers reporting a decrease in wheat quality, pulling away from milling wheat into average or below average feed wheat.
With much of NZ’s grain already contracted out for the upcoming harvest, this will be welcome news to farmers and add competitive prices to whatever is left for NZ domestic spot contracts.
Profarmer’s current price for H1 milling wheat sits at AU$412/t, AU$78/t lower than October’s price.
In comparison, prices for feed wheat have remained unchanged since December at AU$305/t.
NZ grain prices are holding up with Canterbury milling wheat last week sitting on a high of $680/t, with feed wheat at $660 in Canterbury, $640 in Southland and $680 in Manawatū.
Feed barley is holding highs of $650/t in Canterbury, $680 in Southland and $760 in Manawatū.
Maize grain has climbed to $800/t in Manawatū and $639 in Waikato.
