This long-standing community event continues the tradition started by the late John Sykes in 1983.
Riverine Plains Extension and Capacity Building manager, Lynn Macaulay, said this year’s discussions would be audience-led.
It will offer attendees an opportunity to discuss specific areas of interest to support their decisions in the upcoming year and beyond.
“Sykesy’s Buraja meeting is a unique and highly regarded event,” Ms Macaulay said.
“It allows farmers to work through challenges from the previous season and to hear what’s working, and what’s not, on neighbouring farms and in local trials.
“There are always new insights and experiences shared on the day, opening up opportunities for farmers to explore potential changes to their operations for increased efficiency and profitability.”
The day will start with the traditional harvest debrief.
Facilitated by Chris Minehan from Rural Management Strategies, it will tease out the highs and lows from the 2025 season.
This discussion will uncover which varieties performed, which inputs made the difference, any rotational differences, and any benefits of a systems-wide approach to input use and variable cost control.
Agriculture Victoria’s Seasonal Risk Agronomist, Dale Boyd, will discuss the key learnings from local soil moisture probes in 2025, including what farmers can do in 2026 to optimise soil moisture across the region.
Dr Felicity Harris, senior lecturer in Crop Science at Charles Sturt University will address how to stay on top of barley yield scenarios based on soil moisture and rainfall.
She’ll be covering the benefits of varietal spread on maturity and other agronomic management practices to optimise yield.
There will also be a panel session featuring founder and managing director of Feed Central Tim Ford, AG n’ VET agronomist Nick Grant, Dale Boyd and Felicity Harris.
Buying and selling hay based on quality, finding the right hay market and clients, and cropping inputs for maximum results are some of the key areas for discussion during this session.
The event is being held on Wednesday, February 4, at the Buraja Recreational Ground Hall.
It runs from 8:30am -1:30pm, with a complimentary BBQ lunch included.
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