Making Timely Machinery Decisions in the Face of Late Season Breaks

By Kate Parker & Simon Kruger, WMG

Over the past two seasons many farmers across the West Midlands region have faced delayed autumn breaks with significant rainfall not arriving until well into May or even early June. These late starts have squeezed an already narrow seeding window leaving little room for error and amplifying pressure on machinery, labour and logistics.

In these seasonal conditions, making sound machinery decisions, especially around seeding equipment, has never been more important. A shortened sowing period can significantly impact the ability to plant crops at the right time, particularly for canola and cereals where yield potential declines rapidly with delays.

Understanding the Risk

A compressed sowing window brings several layers of risk.

• Yield penalties: Delayed sowing often leads to reduced biomass and shorter grain fill periods, particularly in canola and wheat. This is most noticeable in lower-rainfall zones.
• Moisture loss: Late seeding may mean missing the chance to make the most of any stored summer rainfall. This can result in dry sowing or planting into marginal moisture, with increased risks to crop establishment.
• Operational pressure: A single rainfall event may trigger seeding across an entire farm or region at once. If capacity is stretched, machinery and labour bottlenecks can quickly develop.

These risks are heightened by ongoing climate variability and more frequent seasonal unpredictability. They are becoming a defining feature of farming across Western Australia and are not just operational, they have a direct financial impact. GRDC analysis shows that delays caused by machinery constraints or breakdowns can result in measurable opportunity costs, especially in tight sowing windows where yield potential drops rapidly with time.

Contributing Factors to Timely Seeding

There is no single solution to managing a narrow window, but the following areas can make a significant difference.

GRDC research reinforces the need to align machinery capacity with the area to be seeded and the length of the typical sowing window. Under-sizing machinery for farm scale increases the risk of missing critical timing, while over-capacity may not be financially justified. A balance between speed, scale and economic return is essential.

Machinery capacity and reliability: Breakdowns during tight windows are costly. It is worth assessing whether existing gear is fit for purpose in terms of area coverage, speed and reliability. In some cases, investing in faster or wider implements can provide the buffer needed to stay on track during a short sowing period.

Operational efficiency: Simple measures such as pre-filling air carts, setting up efficient refuelling systems and using GPS guidance to reduce overlap can save valuable time. Having the right parts, fuel and labour ready to go is equally important.

Labour availability is another common constraint. The GRDC’s Machinery Investment Guide notes that larger or faster seeding gear can help offset labour shortages by enabling more ground to be covered in fewer hours, which becomes crucial when windows are tight or support staff are limited.

Contingency planning: Having a plan for different seasonal scenarios can reduce the stress of last-minute decisions. Think about which paddocks could be dry sown, which varieties can handle later sowing, and whether fertiliser strategies could be adjusted if the season gets away from you.

Collaboration and contracting: Contract seeding may be an option, but contractor demand tends to peak during late breaks and availability is not always guaranteed. Equipment sharing or support arrangements with neighbours may offer a more flexible fallback.

Farm-specific planning: Identifying which paddocks tend to hold moisture or can be accessed earlier allows for a phased approach. This is particularly valuable on farms with varying soil types or topography, where starting earlier in some zones can relieve pressure later in the program.

The Role of Review and Planning

Reflection is a powerful tool, especially after a challenging season. Asking the right questions can help guide better decisions in the years ahead.

• How many hectares were sown per day, on average?
• What caused delays: weather, breakdowns, logistics?
• Were some paddocks consistently seeded too late?
• What changes could improve seeding speed or reduce risk?

Answering these questions can help shape future machinery investments, seasonal planning, and even cropping choices. For example, selecting a mix of crops with different maturity windows can spread sowing pressure more evenly across the available timeframe.

These reviews should also include economic considerations, such as the cost of downtime and whether current machinery investments are delivering value across the whole farm operation.

Final Thoughts

Late season breaks are difficult, but they are increasingly a part of farming in WA. While the timing of rainfall cannot be controlled, systems can be put in place to respond quickly and flexibly. Well-maintained and appropriately sized machinery, solid logistics and thoughtful planning all contribute to managing this risk.

No setup will be perfect every year. However, being well prepared often means the difference between a compromised result and one that still meets expectations. If you haven’t already, this is a good time to speak with your local grower group, consultant or machinery supplier about strategies and setups that may suit your farm.

The GRDC’s Machinery Investment Guide is a useful tool that provides additional insight into how machinery capacity and planning affect whole-farm performance. It encourages growers to assess not only the operational impact of narrow seeding windows, but also the broader economic and strategic role machinery plays in managing risk and improving efficiency.

Want to Get Involved?

West Midlands Group (WMG) and the Mingenew-Irwin Group (MIG) are currently investigating how machinery investment decisions are made by growers across the Northern Agricultural Region as part of the RiskWi$e Project. This work forms part of a broader national initiative under the RiskWi$e Project’s Enterprise Financial Decisions theme, led in WA by the Grower Group Alliance, nationally by CSIRO, and funded by the GRDC.

Both WMG and MIG are in the process of surveying producers across the region to understand their machinery decisions. If you’re a grower in the Northern Agricultural Region and would like to contribute your insights, please get in touch with us. The more responses we receive, the stronger and more practical the tools and recommendations will be for growers across the region.