Every 10 years or so the landscape of outback New South Wales transforms when northern floodwaters flow into the dry lake beds off the Great Darling Anabranch.
The floodwaters bring a unique farming opportunity for some pastoralists.
They grow cereal and hay crops where normally you would find cracked soils and roly poly weed.
Part of the Darling Anabranch in far western New South Wales during dry times. (ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Jennifer Douglas)
Hay purchaser Robert Diekman has been sourcing hay and straw off the Anabranch lake beds since 1998.
He said he enjoyed visiting the region in the years when the lakes could produce a crop.
“You wouldn’t … think anything could grow out there, driving around through saltbush, pretty rugged country,” he said.
“And then, you drive over a sandhill and down into this lake area and there’s just an oasis of green, which is quite amazing.”
Mr Diekman found the size of the lake beds surprising.
“They’re pretty big … one of them is 56 kilometres to drive around,” he said.
“Part of the lake will have hay on it and you go four or five kilometres one way, and turn around and come back cutting it or seeding it.”
The nutrients brought down in floodwater produces good organic crops. (Supplied: Robert Diekman)
Organic outback crops
Mark and Lindy Withers run Woodlands and Manilla stations between Broken Hill and Wentworth where some of these lakes are located.
This year, they cropped more than 4,800 hectares of wheat, barley, milling oats and hay.
In cropping regions across Australia, fertilisers are commonly used to increase yields, but not these crops, Mr Withers says.
“I think the nutrients come down with the water,” he said.
“There’s huge amount of fish and birds, and this flood [in 2024] in particular, there was just thousands and thousands of pelicans and shags and ducks, lots of bird life.
“So they would have to be putting nutrients back into the soil.”
The Great Darling Anabranch in the far west and Riverina region of NSW. (ABC: 7.30 Report)
Mr Withers said weeds were controlled through cultivation and required no use of chemicals.
“Our lake beds on our property are certified organic,” he said.
Niche crops, niche markets
The Withers sold large quantities of organic wheat to chicken farmers and organic oats to milling facilities.
The family also sold organic straw to Mr Diekman, who works for South Australian company JT Johnson and Sons.
Mr Diekman said his company used a stripper header to harvest wheat to ensure there were nice long lengths of straw left behind.
“We process it and send it off to Japan … for [their] racehorses,” Mr Diekman said.
Mr Diekman and Mr Withers said they were looking forward to floodwaters again in 10 years’ time when they could do it all again.
