THE record heat in February and March, a plague of locusts and a lack of rain could have spelt disaster for many sorghum growers in central Queensland, but not for the Armstrongs.
Ross Armstrong, Coolibah Plains, Comet, started an early harvest this week and is not too disappointed in the yield.
"This is a good crop of sorghum," he said of the irrigated crop, destined for the domestic feed market.
Coolibah Plains, which lies 85km south-east of Emerald, is 10,000 hectares of plains stretching along the Comet River.
Of this, 8000ha is under cropping - sorghum in summer and wheat in winter. Most of it is dryland, except for 400ha under irrigation.
Mr Armstrong said the past summer had not been without its challenges. Grasshoppers have been such a problem - one he has not seen in 12 to 15 years - it has meant aerial spraying.
"This year they were a problem from the start, so we had to control them one, two, three times and throughout the growth of the crop."
The season, which began with a promising wet start but no rain since February 4, has been short.
"It has something to do with the February-March weather - it was not that extreme, but the average temperature was high and the crop sped up."
The crops, planted at the end of December and January, are normally harvested at the end of May, but the quick growth has brought this forward. The quicker the growth, the lower the yield, but not so for this crop, which has Mr Armstrong expecting a higher yield despite the challenges.
"We trialled a new German precision planter and we've gone to 30-inch row spaces instead of 40 on both our irrigated and dryland crop, and it has lifted yield by 10pc. It has given me better in-crop weed control and fewer harvest losses."
Trials on the dryland crop saw harvesting increase from 3 to 3.4 tonnes a hectare and on the irrigated crop it increased from 7 to 8t/ha.
"That yield gain alone will pay for that planter in two years."
It did put him at odds with many others in the central Queensland grains industry who were going for wider rows, he said.
Four years ago, he began the 'biblical' method - going for the two-crop rotation system whereby half the land lies fallow for a year.
For example, if sorghum is harvested in April, wheat will not be planted until the following year.
"Our rate of annual production has increased," he said.
The operation at Coolibah Downs is different from most other farms in that every aspect of the business - from planting, harvesting, storing to marketing - is carried out on-property and only aerial sprayers are contracted in.
Mr Armstrong said the ever diminishing margins for farmers spearheaded this decision.
"We are geared to store our grain on-farm and I can market directly to a person, so at the most, there is only one set-up of hands between us and the end user."
While it was not difficult to market, it did take time and it was about building relationships, he said.
"I look for people who are prepared to come and visit me on the ground so they know exactly what my situation is, and I can output the product as I say I can."
Every day he will monitor what the trade is, position himself about $15 above the trade price and then market.
Up to 20,000 tonnes of grain can be stored on-property, and there is a certified weigh bridge so trucks can pull up, load and then go.
Even the decision to go for wheat and sorghum for the domestic feed market was guided by the fact these have the most number of outlets.
"I have removed myself from the export pathway - it's too inefficient and too uncompetitively controlled."
It has not been smooth-sailing and the ability to become a one-stop-shop grew out of a 15-year battle with mining company, Glencore - then run as Xstrata.
In 2012, Glencore bought Coolibah Plains and Comet Downs - owned by Mr Armstrongs parents, and signed a lease-back agreement.
Although Mr Armstrong said this was an extremely stressful time and has taken a bit to get his head around not owning the land, they have a lease and it has freed up cash to invest into the business.
Being able to free up capital with the lease agreement and controlling all aspects of the business is central to their ability to be profitable, he said.
His family have been at Coolibah Plains for 35 years.
