FROM THE HART
FROM THE HART Third generation Junee canola farmer Rob Hart provides an insight into the growers behind the Canola Trail’s stunning fields of gold, the challenges they face, and the measures he is taking to build a sustainable and resilient future.
The land Rob Hart stands on has been in his family for almost a century, beginning when his grandfather first set foot in Junee in the 20’s. When Rob was growing up, he was one of twenty farm kids who caught the school bus from the road near the family farm. He’s seen a lot of changes since then.
Now there’s only two kids catching the school bus, and they’re mine,” he says. “The average family farm used to be 1,500 acres, now it ranges from 3 to 5,000 acres with a few parcels of 50 to 100,000 acres owned by a handful of big corporations. “It’s not all bad – some of these farms are very well run. What makes me uncomfortable is that, once the land goes to the big players, it gets passed around between them and rarely makes it back to farmers in the community.”
As a child, Rob always knew he’d do something in the agricultural industry but he had some growing up to do first. After school, he started university study in Armidale, “failed dismally” and finished his degree at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga before setting off on an overseas backpacking adventure.
After a year, Rob received a phone call from his mother. “She basically told me to come home by the end of the month or I’d be out of the farm,” he laughs. “It was good timing anyway – I was running out of money and ready to come home. I’ve been working with my parents ever since, which is brilliant. They’re great people.”
The Hart family own 3000 hectares of land, growing a variety of crops, including wheat, barley, faba beans and chickpeas, lupins, oats and field peas as well as lucerne, clovers and forage mixes – many of which also produce seeds for the family’s additional business, Hart Bros Seeds. The family’s history is testament to the value of both community support and innovation in helping farmers remain resilient.
“My Dad and his brother Adrian, took over the farm in the late 50’s, after their fathers death.” Rob relates. “They had death duty tax and dry times to deal with. A few of the local farmers in the area pitched in to support them and they got through it. They began to experiment with different crops, including canola, and with these new crops came new opportunities. They created a seed business and went a long way.”
Canola belongs to the botanical family Brassicaceae, which also includes mustard, turnip, cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli. In the Canola Trail area, it is annually sown from seed in April or May and harvested in November or December. Canola is usually “windrowed” about 10 days before it is harvested. In this process, the crop is cut and placed in rows so it dries out more consistently and is less prone to wind damage.
In the grain-growing area of the Riverina, canola is vital as it is grown in rotation with wheat, barley and some legume crops, providing a disease break which generally results in grain crops having a higher yield when grown after canola. After it is harvested, canola oil is extracted from the seed and used in margarine, cooking oil and salad oil. It is considered healthy due to its low saturated fat and ideal balance of omega fatty acids. It is also an excellent source of vitamin E as well as an effective biodiesel that is commonly used in Europe.
The residual product left after the oil is extracted is called “meal” and is widely utilised in rations for pigs, poultry and dairy cattle. Australia has a reputation for high quality oil and currently exports to Europe, Japan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Varieties of canola are now being developed that contain oil that is more stable when used in deep fryers. Companies like KFC have shown much interest in this, as they currently use environmentally unsustainable palm oil.
Over the last decade, Rob and his family have continued to experiment with new and better ways of farming and this willingness to learn has allowed them to adapt to changing conditions and dry spells. They continue to experiment with crop rotation, companion planting and various methods for enhancing the organic carbon status of his soil, constantly striving to reduce the use of chemical insecticides and fertilisers.
“We’ve gone from regularly ploughing to trying to disturb the soil as little as is humanly possible,” he says. “Ten years ago, we were burning straw and now we’re using it to build our own carbon. We’re also working on retaining water in the soil by stopping evaporation and improving infiltration.”
“It’s all about learning how to care for our land using the science and knowledge that is available to us. It takes a brain change and can be very challenging – just when you think you’re organised, there’s more to learn!”
According to Rob, farming can be lucrative but it can also be devastating, with highs and lows that must be planned for.
“We work on three in ten years being good economically and between that we’ll either plod along or have a significant loss,’ he says. “Everyone who goes into farming understands this reality but it’s hard not to experience a fair chunk of stress when it doesn’t rain for a long time.”
“We need government support to create a system that allows us to support ourselves during tough years – something like an insurance fund that farmers pay more into during the good years, that provides consistent income protection for everyone. This would really decrease the stress. Farmers don’t want hand-outs – what we need is mechanisms to support ourselves. It’s a very different business to the norm.”
Farming is a tough gig with no guarantees but when Rob looks out at the golden canola fields and smiles, it’s evident that he’s in it for the long haul.
“It’s not a bad office, is it?” He asks, rhetorically. “Every day I get to wake up and be my own boss, working with people I like. The rewards come when we see the fruits of the decisions we made years ago – like planting some trees, adopting new methods of soil improvement, building a new shed. Like Like every business, farming comes with risks but there’s also a lot of satisfaction.”
