Rob Warburton writes for Farmer Focus
I’m delighted to be asked to write for Farmer Focus. I farm with my wife, Jen, and our two daughters, Lucinda and Zara, on a 3,000ha property in the shire of Kojonup, western Australia.
Our main production is wheat, oilseed rape and barley, with our season running from April through to harvest in December. While cropping occupies 65% of the farm, the rest is dedicated to sheep production, producing Merino sheep for wool and meat.
I’m also a director and chair of a number of agricultural research organisations and I completed a Nuffield Scholarship in 2010.
Innovation and adaption drives the agriculture sector here, with a culture of aggressive expansion and growth being the driving force over the past 15 years. With it is a high risk culture, but agriculture is facing some tough challenges over the next few years.
Genetically modified oilseed rape has been grown now for three years and is facing some resistance. We had a carbon tax introduced recently, coal steam gas is taking away some of the best agricultural land and the Tesco model has been taken up by our supermarkets. Foreign companies are buying up large tracks of land and mining companies are paying three to four times the wages of a farm employees, to name but a few.
2010 was one of the driest on record in the south-west of western Australia, with only 220mm of rainfall and wheat yields of around 2t/ha – less than half the normal average.
However, this year is looking like one of the wettest on record, with over 600mm falling so far and wheat yields expected to be around the 5t/ha mark. You never know what sort of year you’re going to get in farming, but you know it going to be different from the last one.
Rob Warburton farms 3,000ha with his wife Jen and two daughters in Kojonup, below Perth in western Australia. Cropping includes wheat, barley and oilseed rape. Wildflower seed is grown for retail. Merino sheep are reared for wool and meat.
