THE old adage ‘you can’t grow Canola north of the NSW border’ has been well and truly dispelled with the crop flourishing on the Atherton Tableland region at present.
Tableland Fertilizers Sales Agronomist, Paul Keevers said this is the first time that a non-genetically modified canola crop has been successfully grown this far north.
“The kernel of the idea came about because we thought it would be much more cost effective and efficient if we could grow canola on the Tablelands instead of having to get it delivered from NSW,” Mr Keevers said.
“The variable weather conditions supported the idea that it could be grown successfully, which gave us the confidence to start a two hectare trial crop last year,” he said.
The trial crop at Jim Isabella’s farm produced a yield of 3.5 tonnes per hectare which Mr Keevers said was “an excellent result”.
The ability to direct harvest the crop resulted in no new machinery requirements to be purchased to handle the crop and limited losses through the harvesting process.
After the successful trial Tableland Fertilizers put in a 140 hectare crop for commercial use, which is expected to produce excellent yields.
Mr Keevers said the long-term ramifications of the new availability of canola in the region will produce better returns for those in the industry due to lowered feed prices.
“We’ll be able to supply to the wholesaler and individual producer for their feed mill needs at a much cheaper rate than they’ve had in the past.”
He said an added benefit is that the canola crop will also complement the winter growing program that Tableland farmers employ.
