2016 may well be the International Year of Pulses, but for many southern Queensland farmers 2015 was the year of the chickpeas.
After a string of difficult seasons, 2015 has been a good year for southern Queensland grain farmers all round.
But the excellent returns from chickpeas has been the icing on the cake.
An exceptional sorghum crop made for a good start to the year for Queensland farmers.
Yields were extremely good and average prices close to $300 on farm ensured overall returns were very good.
Thankfully the good summer crop season was followed by bumper winter crop yields as well, going a long way towards pegging back some of the recent lean seasons growers have endured.
Wheat and barley yields across wide areas of south western Queensland this year were some of the best ever.
Some traders are now predicting Queensland’s wheat crop could reach 1.6 million tonnes, or 45 per cent higher than ABARES latest estimate on the back of these strong yields.
However chickpeas were a standout performer of Queensland’s winter crops in 2015.
Farmers were quick to respond to the $800 plus on farm chickpea prices early in the season, sowing one of the largest areas across southern Queensland ever.
The combination of one of the best winter crop harvests on record, good chickpea prices and the huge planted area has paid off in spades many Queensland grain farmers this year.
The jury is still out on how big the state’s chickpea crop will be but some traders are saying it could exceed half a million tonnes.
It’s not often that the stars of good prices and high prices align, but it’s nice when it does.
Although chickpea prices are down from the peak of $900 Brisbane seen in June, they are still holding on well against historical norms.
Last week’s prices were unchanged at $795 Brisbane.
Grain prices were modestly softer last week.
Stockfeed wheat into the Darling Downs lost $3 to $279 delivered while F1 feed barley was down $6 to $252 delivered.
Farmers remain reluctant sellers at these levels but good cash flows from chickpeas means they are generally happy to what happens in the New Year.
Sorghum prices continued to firm last week with Downs bids up a further $5 to $285 as traders shorts try to flush out scarce supplies.
This is huge premium to NSW sorghum prices which are now sub $260 delivered Newcastle.
