One of the growers harvesting this week in WA was Chad Eva who farms near Carnamah, about 320km north of Perth.

Chad says the unusually early start to harvest is due to an early seeding thanks to a good forecast for the end of March.

With two staff away on leave and only two varieties in the shed to select from at that time, Chad says he wasn't sure which variety to sow. He selected the Battalion over the 44Y27 because the Hyola Battalion from Pacific Seeds was a TruFlex Clearfield variety and he had previously seen some sulfonylurea (SU) damage due to boom spray contamination.

The Battalion was sown at 2kg/ha using a John Deere 1830 air drill on 305mm spacing at an angle to the previous wheat stubble to improve germination which Chad says was excellent and flowering started in early May.

Chad says that June was dry with only 25mm recorded for the month.

"After that dry June, the crop was done. What we have learnt now is that the Battalion is an indeterminate variety and doesn't have the ability to keep going." he says.

Chad refers to the crop and the early harvest as a "learning opportunity", with PlanFarm consultant Peter Newman arranging for harvester specialists Brett Asphar from Seed Terminator and Kassie Van Der Westhuizen to visit after a Grains Research and Development Corporation harvester setup forum in Dalwallinu earlier in the day.

With both a Case IH and John Deere harvester in the paddock, Brett and Kassie along with the Primary Sales team got to work measuring losses and offering owners some optimisation and setup tips.

The Battalion was desiccated with 2.2L/ha of Reglone 10 days prior to harvest and threshing conditions were tough with a fall of rain prior to harvest. Moisture content was high with a sample through an NIR device measuring around 10 per cent moisture and 43 per cent oil content meaning the grain harvested will need to be turned every few days until it can be blended up with some drier grain to get down to eight per cent moisture for delivery.

Chad says that after harvesting this Battalion, they will have to pause harvest until the R4022 is ready to go.

"In contrast, the BASF R4022 sown into lupin stubble has hung on well through the dry and been able to make use of the wetter than average July and August, still growing well and filling pods.

"We've had 130mm in August and 58mm in September to date," Chad said, adding that this had made weed control difficult this year with late ryegrass germination requiring later than usual Glyphosate applications for adequate control.

Harvesters further north near Geraldton are due to start rolling next week with plenty of crop already dessicated.