Harvest dampener

Unseasonal wet weather over the past fortnight has forced some Mid West farmers to delay their harvest, as heavy rains flooded their paddocks. The weird weather patterns has proved that Mother Nature is the only real boss in the agricultural industry. Raylene Burns and Michelle Marshall farm north of Yuna and they took a “girls day” out while their harvest was on hold. Looking their best, one wearing a fascinator and the other wearing a hat, the two hit the Geraldton Turf Club to celebrate the Melbourne Cup. For others, like Phill Rumble, there was no time for rest or recreation. He spent the days preparing machinery and getting ready for the hard work on the horizon. Mr Rumble has worked on Wyalong farm near Mullewa for a decade. He’d love to have spent the last few weeks sitting in the farm’s giant green header for 16 hours a day with its air-conditioned seats and a mini-fridge full of refreshments. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans. The team only just got back to harvesting on Wednesday last week when this Monday’s rains knocked their timeline back again. Wyalong was lucky enough to have a full deck of hands this season, despite staff shortages in the sector. However, the seasonal team has enjoyed a fair amount of R&R over the last few weeks, waiting for fields of canola, wheat and lupin to dry.