Paul Tognetti plans to reduce his canola plantings by 10 per cent next year so faba beans can be planted across 100 hectares of ‘Myee’, the farm he manages with his wife, Shirley, west of Grenfell, New South Wales.

The self-confessed data enthusiast – who manages 2550ha for South Australian growers David and Rebecca Hurst – says the move comes after research and farm benchmarking data convinced him of faba beans’ long-term benefits.

Paul, who crops 2100ha, says he was swayed by GRDC’s southern NSW farming systems project results and an Agripath benchmarking analysis.

“We are probably not going to make much money from them in the year they are grown, but over a five-year rotation I think there should be an advantage,” he says.

Over seven years, the top 20 per cent of growers who submitted data to Agripath’s comparative analysis had faba beans in their rotations. I thought that’s what I need to be doing.

Paul says he will continue growing canola, followed by wheat, until faba beans are needed to help control weeds and reduce the urea spend.

Although his agronomist, Delta Ag’s Jenna Brewis, urged him to grow faba beans in 2020, high canola prices delayed his decision to trial them.

“If we plant 100ha to faba beans, the gross margin might not be that great that year,” he says. “But GRDC’s long-term southern NSW farming systems project and feedback from my comparative analysis group have indicated faba beans offer weed, nitrogen and disease management advantages.”

Paul has about 1000 tonnes of grain storage, enough for the faba beans to be stockpiled before delivery to a buyer.

Regarding canola, the 58-year-old grows Pioneer^® 44Y94CL, 45Y95CL, Optimum GLY^® PY525G, PY520TC and Hyola^® Blazer TT. Hybrids are preferred because of their yield advantages, while triazine varieties are grown to diversify weed management.

Paul has been analysing the ‘Myee’ business financially since 1997. Back then, he used McMichael & Associates.

However, in 2018, he wanted to compare his financial performance with other growers, so he engaged the business and technical management firm Agripath, based in Tamworth, after hearing about the company at a GRDC Farm Business Update.

“We gave them our 2018 and 2019 figures, and those two dry years made me wonder why we were farming,” he says. “But we kept going and have analysed our figures from 2020 to 2023.”

Paul says he is primarily interested in the data from the farm he manages but finds it fascinating to see how his management compares with others.

“I like to see what the growers in the top 20 per cent do differently in terms of their input costs and total plant, machinery and labour,” he says.

“It has enabled us to determine that our average production costs for wheat and canola are about $1000 to $1100/ha.”

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