With reasonable rains recorded across most of northern Victoria in recent weeks crops in the area have managed to hold on a bit longer, with some crops still having high yield potential. However many crops around the area have suffered moisture stress from the prolonged dry spell leading up to the rain. In some paddocks the tops of wheat heads have gone white where the head has aborted grains in preference to fill the bottom part of the head in dry conditions. Where this has occurred, the damage is done and the white tips will not fill even with good soil moisture meaning that grain yield potential will be significantly reduced. When this situation occurs you need to decide on the best option for that crop, whether to take it for hay now or follow through to grain. There are a few things to consider when making this decision. First of all you need to estimate the yield potential for grain and compare that with the estimated dry matter yield for hay. Next you need to work on a price for your product, at the moment grain prices are quite low around $200/ton for wheat but will rise come February – March so your capacity to store grain or sell off the header needs to be considered. Depending on quality cereal hay is said to sell for $150 - $180/ton delivered. You also need to consider costs involved, the extra work load and the risk that comes with doing hay as opposed to stripping. For example, if you have a bulky wheat crop that has quite bad tipping on the heads it may only yield 2ton/ha resulting in $400/ha on current grain prices. However that same crop could have 5 ton of dry matter for hay/ha which if reasonable quality would amount to $750/ha based on $150/ton prices, if the price is $180/ton then the hay figures are even more attractive. For any help with yield estimates or hay and grain marketing through Hunter Rural feel free to call me with any queries.

Andrew James

Agronomist

Hunter Rural

0447215744