Bill and Anne Yates
'Amondale'
Garah NSW

 

An Axe, Some Sheep and a Big Heart is the title of Bill Yates' history of his family's occupation of 'Delvin' in north western New South Wales. Bill's story includes a history of the climate and how it impacted on 100 years of farming decisions, from 1899 until today. 'Amondale' is an 8,000 hectare property, incorporating the original family property 'Delvin'. Bill and his family produce wheat, wool and beef cattle. 'Past records are the first thing I look at in relation to climate' said Bill. 'My grandfather kept records from 1916, my father took them over in 1943 and I have kept them on ever since.'

'My father was interested in weather and climate and so was I. The longer you stay on the land the more interested you become, because it drives your profit.'

One hundred years of records has allowed Bill to form a long-term picture of climatic cycles and their impacts on productivity and management decisions.

'The 1902 drought was extraordinarily severe, having built from a series of drier than normal years' wrote Bill in his family history.

'The wet period of the late 19th century had led to a huge build up in sheep numbers, and having come from a wetter area near Maitland, the settlers no doubt believed properties like Delvin were capable of stocking rates of one sheep to the acre or better.

'The problem in 1902 was that there was no outside source of fodder. Having been greatly overstocked for a number of years, any ability of the pasture to respond to small falls would have been negligible, as the tussocks of perennial grass would have died.'

Bill's father took over the property in the thirties, during another dry cycle that lasted until 1947. High stocking rates had continued and so Bill's father spent much of his time lopping trees to feed stock. Over time he moderated the stocking rate to reduce variations in income and promote better pasture productivity.

During the sixties the family gradually moved into broadacre cropping, diversifying from its strong reliance on wool.

Bill finds that 'Amondale' is in a generally wetter phase now, as reflected by the winter rainfall dominance in the eighties.

'The seventies were dominated by wet summers with big floods. Prior to that there hadn't been a flood for 22 years' said Bill.

'I had my father's advice in my head, who had come out of those long dry periods. He said this won't last, you can't just go and plough it all up. It was tempting at the time, but I'm glad I didn't.'

'Now when I'm doing crop budgets I always look at three scenarios - wet winter, mild winter or dry winter. For example, in a dry winter budget I would drop out a few inputs, especially late urea and spraying applications.'

Bill has the advantage of modern technology over this father and grandfather. Each morning he checks the Bureau of Meteorology Internet site and he checks the Southern Oscillation Index at least once a week.

'If there are no big changes in the SOI then I will follow an average plan of attack. I will spread risk by sowing so that not everything ripens at the same time' said Bill.

'If it is changing then I look at the SOI and then look back for analogous years. I would plan for the worst and then a bit more.

'If there's a rising SOI trend by March, I tend to think of higher level of inputs to target higher outputs.

'If the SOI is steady but we don't have much sub soil moisture, I would look at lower yield estimates or sow barley, which can use the moisture better. Our records show that we don't get much winter rain under those conditions and it's very hard to grow a big crop if we haven't got good moisture by March.

'If there are indications of summer rain I might put the land into a summer crop mix. But summer rainfall here is less reliable and I prefer to go towards winter crops with plenty of moisture under them. Then you don't need big rainfalls, you just need enough to get the crop going into the sub soil moisture.'

Bill believes that farmers who don't refer to historic climate patterns tend to make assumptions about climate based upon their recent experiences.

'I've had people say to me recently that we don't get wet harvests around here, but that's just the way its been for the past ten years' said Bill. At least four of the previous ten years had wet harvests. So I'm preparing for a wet harvest and if we have a dry one, that will be great!'

Climate information is also useful for stock management. In 1998 Bill saw a rising SOI and heavy winter rain and came to believe he was at risk of flooding.

'I decided that maybe 100 acres might be left out of water, so I moved the sheep' said Bill. 'They were full wool sheep, so it was better to move them than leave them to wait and see. It was a fair bit of luck there, but I made the decision to move and it was right.

'There is no way I would have been able to save the sheep if I hadn't moved them when I did. I would have had 2500 sheep down there on 10 acres and I would have needed a helicopter to get to them.'

Bill sees his climatic analysis as an integral part of his property plan and business management.

'It's probably made me grow less grain then other people and maybe I don't jump ahead in monetary gains like they have, in terms of yearly variations. But in the long run I'm meeting my goals and I am always looking after the health of my pastures.

'The biggest danger is complacency. It's easy to forget climate history and the old records really help you keep an eye out for threats.

'Australia is a land of extremes and you need to have a handle on how to work with them.'