THERE will be no lengthy Christmas festivities in the Hateley househould at Mitre in the west Wimmera this year, with a significant proportion of the family’s crop still to be harvested.
Dale Hateley, pictured with children Isabel (being held) Chloe, Riley and Tahlia, at the family’s block at Cooack, north of Mitre, said he expected the harvest to go on well into the New Year.
“It has been pretty slow, the weather has not been superhot for this time of year and we have had to wait around to get started a lot of days.”
“The barley is especially slow going as a lot of it went down in the wind which has made for difficult harvesting.”
On a brighter note, Mr Hateley, who farms with wife Rachel and parents Raymond and Sandra, said yields were right up there with the best in recent memory.
“We’ve had to go a little slower than usual which is not a bad problem to have.”
He said the crop quality was holding up well.
“The barley has been reasonable, and we hope the wheat will be the same.”
The end of harvest is likely to be later than usual, however, Mr Hateley said it was not unusual to be still going at Christmas.
“With the two droughts the two years before we have been finished a bit earlier, but this year is back to normal or probably a bit later.”
Gregor Heard
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
