![Selwyn Schmidt, Rosehill, Jambin, with sprouting sorghum that he managed to harvest. Picture- SARAH COULTON. Selwyn Schmidt, Rosehill, Jambin, with sprouting sorghum that he managed to harvest. Picture- SARAH COULTON.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-agfeed/2011799.jpg/r0_0_600_400_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
RAIN over the Australia Day weekend has halved the yield of Selwyn Schmidt's sorghum crop at Rosehill, Jambin, in Central Queensland.
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Mr Schmidt had pre-sprayed the crop a week before the rain at the end of January, and was waiting for the fully matured crop to dry out. He finally recorded 305mm after three-and-a-half days of continuous rain.
Due to the rain and moisture in the air the sorghum crop started to sprout on the head rather than in the soil, something Mr Schmidt has only seen twice in his lifetime.
"Half of our yield disappeared by falling out onto the ground, and the grain that did fall out is now six to eight inches high. All of that is wasted," Mr Schmidt said.
"We had plants that fell over and big clumps have sprouted and are now growing.
"Between what's fallen over and what's on the ground, we estimate we lost over half of our anticipated yield," Mr Schmidt said.
"The yield and quality have both been affected, so we have to reduce the price accordingly.
"We're offering the grain to consumers at a $50/tonne discount.
"We anticipated it was going to average a tonne to the acre, maybe a little bit better, and we were looking at prices of $250/t at that stage.
"Now the price has come back to less than $200/t, and we only yielded about half-a- tonne to the acre."
Mr Schmidt said before the rain, the crop had done it tough due to dry conditions.
"Normally we would nearly expect a tonne and a half if we had a bit more in-crop rain.
"But we have no reason to complain. We didn't lose any soil, and we now have enough soil moisture to plant a late summer crop.
"We're pretty happy at the end of this harvest, considering the season," Mr Schmidt said.