Wheat, barley and rice next for PCP

The barley has been sown at ‘Kelvinside’, on the other side of Finley, where the PCP have a share farming arrangement with the Mills family.

PCP founding member Warren Lang said rice is also on the cards for the group this year.

“We’ve sown 140 hectares of Spector wheat at ‘Mandalay’, and on the share farm is 110 hectares of Planett barley,” Warren said.

“We had canola in last year and got a good result from the new farm.

“We got in and did some pre-irrigation for wheat earlier in the year and we were able to get the wheat sown on time.

“Like most farmers now, we’re just trying to get on country to get the urea and nitrogen on.

“We’ll also look at a spring watering if required, and hopefully we can take advantage of the strong wheat prices.”

Warren said the prices have been driven by the fact the “world is not awash with wheat” at the moment.

He said the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is also impacting on the market.

“It should mean that we get reasonable returns on grains,” he said.

“We also intend to get 50 hectares of rice in at ‘Kelvinside’.”

All proceeds from cropping in the short term will be used to pay off the purchase of ‘Mandalay’, with the medium to long term goal of the PCP being to invest in the community.

“Because of the generosity of the community so far, we hope to be doing that within a few years,” Warren said.

“The volunteer effort over the last 16 months has been really positive.

“Lots of people and organisations have been supporting us, and because of that generosity we should be able to get to that goal of putting money into the community sooner rather than later.

“As an example, we recently borrowed a truck for use on the farm and the starter motor went.

“Flippers Auto Repair replaced the starter motor for free because they believe in what we’re trying to do.

“We also had some help from the Finley Football Netball Club in the pre-season. They came out and helped us with digging out for pre-watering, and were very generous in their time.

“We’ve also had a lot of support from Elders and Nutrien, and a lot of other quiet donations along the way.”

The Finley PCP is an extension of a program that has been running in the community for more than 10 years, where money earned from share farming arrangements were reinvested into the community.

Most notably, this arrangement contributed toward Finley’s recreation reserve building.

‘‘The intended purpose of Finley PCP Ltd is to create a future fund that will be available to community not-for-profit groups, to be used to embark on projects that otherwise may have been out of reach financially and provide opportunities to apply for grants where matching funding is a prerequisite,’’ said PCP members.

‘‘It will enable the community to have a significant say in their own destiny, no longer being primarily reliant on the government for projects to succeed.

‘‘There is great potential to bring the community together as worthwhile projects are planned and completed, as well as developing a greater trust and stronger networks with levels of government and the private sector, thereby increasing opportunities for future worthwhile ventures.’’

Founding members financially contributed to the purchase of ‘Mandalay’ last year, with donations from other individuals and group and a loan covering the remaining cost.

With volunteer assistance integral to the success of the PCP, the group encourages the community to help in a number of ways. This could be by:

• donation of monetary sums;

• giving of labour/time;

• donating use of equipment;

• donation of inputs (eg water/seed/fertilizer).

For more information on the Finley PCP, or how you can be involved, go to www.finleypcp.com.au.

You can also stay up to date with Finley PCP projects on the group’s Facebook page, where sponsors are supporters are recognised.