For many years, the first week of April has marked the start of seeding on the Steber family farm at Doodlakine - and this year is no exception.
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Matt and Allie Steber and their son Tom have started dry sowing their 2800-hectare canola program using the Hunter and Emu varieties.
They have received 50-60 millimetres of rain to date in 2024, all of it falling in March.
This has now gone down into the subsoil to a depth of about 100mm.
The canola is being sown at a depth of about 15mm.
"We just need more rain now to join up with the subsoil moisture," Mr Steber said."
It is dry and dusty and we are certainly not sowing into any moisture this year."
Average annual rainfall for the Stebers is about 330mm and last year they received 204mm for the season.
"We got the crop in early when we had rain, and we had some lucky September rain to get us out of jail," Mr Steber said.
"We had average grain yields in the end."
Mr Steber said it was too early to tell whether this year's start to seeding was a good one compared to previous years.
"The potential is there, but we need another good rainfall," he said.
"We have the subsoil moisture, but it is early days.
"We always start seeding the crop in the first week of April to get our full 12,100ha program in the ground in a timely manner."
The Stebers grow the long-maturity wheat Catapult, along with Calibre, Sting and Vixen.
"The mix of wheat varieties will change according to what rain is received," Mr Steber said.
Rosalind and Maximus will make up the barley program and the Stebers will sow Jurien lupins.
They have not had sheep in their system for the past six years, now being 100 per cent cropping.
Seeding is taking place with a 24-metre Morris Quantum airdrill set with 30 centimetre spacings and an 18m John Deere 1830 air hoe drill, also set at 30cm spacings.
These are being towed by Case tractors.
