Hay season is looking good after last year’s ‘disaster’

“There is plenty of water around this season and we have been getting enough rain without too much — it’s shaping up to be better than last year where we lost 1500 acres (607ha) of windrowed crops on our own farm at Wakool due to unprecedented flooding,” Scott said.

Rather than lament the flood damage, Scott and Darren decided to mulch and speed till the windrows back into the soil and make use of access to supplementary water and put some millet in, which they ended up sending into the local dairy market and up north.

‘’There wasn’t much quality hay around last year so anything that was quality moved very quickly,” Darren said.

Looking to expand their business, the brothers purchased their farm at Wakool around 10 years ago after they decided to look outside the district because it was getting too expensive around Leitchville.

The property has now grown to include about 1012ha.

Dependent on the season and water availability, the brothers grow cereals and vetch, and this year, due to the great season, there will be a fair bit of clover hay around.

“Last year was a bit of a disaster but we were able to strip some grain, which is something we have never really tried before, and our yields weren’t too bad so we sort of fluked that a bit,” Scott said.

The property at Wakool is geographically located in a spot which enables them to easily sell hay up into the northern markets.

Along with their dad Graham, the brothers also grow 60ha of lucerne and run a few beef cows and offer a bit of agistment on the Leitchville property.

They always put their first cut of lucerne into silage and then fertilise it up to get it going for the next cut of hay. The lucerne always flies out the door despite a recent decline in the dairy industry.

“Dairy farmers are always looking for quality hay and we have a lot of loyal, returning customers.”

Both Darren and Scott left school at 15 to work on the family farm (they got of dairying seven years ago) and started a contracting and lasering business more than three decades ago.

They had no idea it would grow into what it is today — a contracting business which now includes 12 tractors, two square balers, two round balers, three mowers, two rakes and some earth moving and lasering gear.

The brothers decided to focus on round and square hay and silage and lasering, and they always have endless work ahead of them.

“We could always get bigger but labour is a limiting factor and we like to look after the clients we already have — we don’t have a problem working in with other contractors either,” Scott said.

They find they have enough work within a 150km radius of Leitchville, although they have travelled into other areas at different times, especially during drought.

Darren said the hay season was always a busy and intense period of the year for them.

Some days they might have three mowers going in one paddock and they are up all night; lasering is a bit more flexible and not quite as demanding.

Like all contractors, the brothers are certainly feeling the financial pinch when it comes to replacing machinery.

“We always like to replace two or three pieces of machinery every year, but since COVID machinery prices have got out of hand along with increases in fuel and input costs and it is getting harder to make margins,” Scott said.

A $250,000 tractor five years ago has now blown out to $750,000.

“You do wonder where this is all going to end,” Darren said.