THE stars have aligned for many southern Queensland grain growers this year but Yelarbon's Jamie and Anna Tait know it's still too early for big predictions.
"Unfortunately I've learned the hard way that you haven't got the crop until it is in the silo," Jamie said.
"A lot of things have gone right for us this year to produce a pretty good-looking crop but a few years ago we were also looking at a good crop at the same time in the season and all it took was a big frost and that was that."
Working in conjunction with his parents, Chris and Peter, and brother and sister-in-law, Will and Jo, Jamie farms across several properties in the Yelarbon district including Curriba, 10km north of town.
The Taits have a sizeable area planted to wheat, chickpeas and barley this winter and Jamie said all three crops were looking promising.
He's lost count of the in-crop rain tally but another 21mm last week has given the crops an extra boost.
If risks such as frost, a wet harvest or hailstorms can be averted, Jamie thinks 2015 may have the potential to break new ground in terms of yield.
"I guess a lot of the practices have been new to us this year in terms of extra fertiliser and fungicides and we've really put a lot of effort in," he said.
"There's been a lot of consultation with our agronomists, Paul Gardoll and Rory Kerlin from MCA in Goondiwindi, and I think we are all really hoping we'll be able to find out what we are capable of if everything goes right. It's almost new ground we are looking at."
For now, Jamie and wife Anna are focused on preparing for the upcoming harvest, due to start towards the end of October.
"It will be all hands on deck then," he said.
