Baden Gray graduated from Marcus Oldham in 2023 and headed home to his future on the farm just in time to see a year’s hard work smashed by frost and belted by rain at harvest.
But he’s adamant farming’s where he wants to go – it’s been his dream since he first walked (or very soon thereafter).
Today he is the flagbearer for his family’s fifth generation in the Ultima neighbourhood, where he and his parents Warrick and Tamara farm 5000 acres of mostly wheat, barley, lentils, oaten hay (targeting the export market), and canola.
This year will be the first time the Grays have used it in more than a decade, encouraged by rising prices and its potential in paddocks heavily infested with ryegrass.
“We have a couple of pretty bad spots, so it is easier to manage with crops such as lentils and canola rather than trying to do it with cereals,” Baden explained.
He is also focused on where to go next for the farm, which is what first got the family involved in hosting NVT plots on their property, managed by Birchip Cropping Group.
While it only covers 3 hectares, and is a mix of pulses and cereals, this will be their third year in the program, something Baden brought to the family business.
“The season last year put paid to much of that work, and the results we got were only released as quarantined data, with a rider growers should not bother trying to interpret the data, it was too skewed,” Baden added.
“Our pulse trial was wiped out by the frost, and pretty well that was the same result on other cites right across the regions. It was a bad frost year.
“This season dad and I have already gone over the place twice with the sprayer – we copped 100mm over harvest, which wasn’t too helpful, and while things look dry at the moment, under 30cm, we still have stored moisture, which will be a help when we sow.
“But it’s still a little far out for us to reach for the crystal ball and where it will all go.”
Baden said his family sowed to the calendar, with the canola going in during the second and third week of April, although if there is any sign of rain they would try and go earlier.
Then the oats will start just before Anzac Day, followed by the lentils, barley and wheat.
“We would like it all done by the third week of May. We certainly don’t want to get that far out and still be trying to get too much into the ground,” he said.
“While I have two younger brothers who help out in harvest, neither of them seems very interested in a future as a farmer, so right now dad and I do most of the load, although mum has a truck licence and does a fair bit of that here and there.”
Baden said while his father has been happy to support the NVT/BCG trials, he probably would not have gone down that path without his enthusiasm.
He said he has always had a strong interest in plant species, varieties and traits and a lot of the work he did at Marcus Oldham was based around NVT data.
“It lets you look at the bigger picture, how that data can benefit the economics of your crop rotations through yield advantages and disease ratings,” Baden said.
“That’s why we get a real kick out of attending things such as BCG trial days, the updates are great and while not everything is applicable because of soil types and climatic conditions we really enjoy hearing about the different trials and the results they are getting.
“You also learn about chemical and fertiliser trials, nitrogen banking and their impact on yield potential, and that’s all important knowledge.
“Last year we put more fertiliser across our farm than we have ever done and then hit those frosts.
“We have just had our soil tests done and once we get the results back we’ll find out how well we have done with nitrogen.”
While the spraying is mostly done, and sowing is just around the corner, Baden is also juggling a move into his own house on the property, a renovation planned to be done last year but he is now thinking he might get in at the end of May.
He will also be skipping his first season of footy at Ultima while he comes to grips with his increased responsibilities on the farm. The whole family has a strong involvement there; Warrick and Tamara are both trainers at the club and his brothers also play.
Moving deeper into the 2025 season, Baden reflected on what happened on-farm in 2024.
“A lot of our cereal ended up as feed – in some parts we were going along at four tonnes per hectare but in the frost hit sections that went down to 0.4t/ha,” he said.
“Hopefully that doesn’t happen again anytime soon.”
