Adaptation advantages
Profits from using many windows of opportunity
If the weather or prices are more favourable for a different crop we will grab those opportunities.
— Warrick Stent-smith
FLEXIBILITY is the key to maximising profits on the Stent-smith family property at Emerald, in Central Queensland.
“We have a general plan, but if the weather or prices are more favourable for a different crop we will grab those opportunities,” Warrick said.
Warrick and his wife, Danielle, have managed the family-owned mixed cropping and livestock enterprise on 4000ha of dryland country north of Emerald for the past two years.
Cotton was the opportunity crop this season.
“We have never grown cotton before, but sorghum prices were low and we were looking for something more profitable so we thought we’d give it a go,” Warrick said.
They planted 550ha, rain came at the right time and the crop progressed well.
“We are looking for another rain on it now and will hopefully start picking at the end of May, start of June,” Warrick said. “We are hoping to get anywhere from three-quarters of a bale to 1½ bales per acre (1.85-3.7 bales/ha) depending on the rest of the season.”
They are using the new GM Bolgard III variety of cotton which is more bug-resistant and requires fewer sprays.
“The bugs this year are low and we’ve only had to do two weed sprays,” Warrick said.
Warrick said the hardest part about planting cotton was post-harvest.
“It can be hard to get rid of, but after harvest we will mulch it and plough it two to three times before rotating back into a wheat crop,” Warrick said.
The Stent-smiths also planted 1350ha of chickpeas this year, a primary crop regularly grown in the past along with wheat, sorghum and mungbeans.
Chickpeas have had good growing conditions and returns in recent years producing up to 2.47 tonnes/ha, although even with reduced rainfall last year they still averaged 0.74-1.24 tonnes/ha.
Warrick said with the Indian tariff this year they might plant more wheat.
It generally yields an average of 2.4 to 3.7 tonnes/ha. “We have good heavy black soil here and are minimum till which helps preserve the moisture, so if we can get rain in February then we can still plant in May off the subsoil moisture,” Warrick said.
The Stent-smiths have 500ha of mungbeans planted this year, which are generally processed at Burdekin or the Darling Downs, and yield on average 0.98 tonnes to 1.23 tonnes/ha. In previous years they have reached up to $1400 a tonne but generally average about $1000 a tonne.
The Stent-smiths also run wagyu and simmental breeders and grow calves out to 400kg for feedlots.
Sheep will also be introduced shortly
“When we harvest there is quite often a lot of grain left on the ground that cattle can’t use but sheep will,” Warrick said “If we can have a couple of thousand sheep here without changing the cattle numbers too much, then why not?”