South Australian farmers to realise once-in-a-generation crop that is set to shatter past records SITTING PRETTY: Sanderston farmer Alex McGorman is hoping for one more good rain to produce well above average crops. ACROSS the lush farmlands of South Australia, a once-in-a-generation crop is emerging that is set to shatter past records and breathe new life into the farming sector. Leading farmers and analysts estimate the mammoth crop has the potential to be worth $3.3 billion and break the 2010 record of 10.34 million tonnes by up to one million tonnes. Tightly packed grain crops are astounding farmers across the state as yields reach unprecedented levels. Confidence is high, with good prices and heavy rain forecast for Royal Adelaide Show week from September 6 to 14. In a show of farmer ingenuity, new methods, new technology and above-average winter rain are the reasons for the bumper crop of wheat, barley, canola, oats and various other oilseeds and pulses. Australian Grain Growers Co-operative chief executive Steve Mellington said the production capability of the state as a whole was unprecedented and had the makings of a crop that should well exceed the 2010 record. Bartholomaeus Consulting's Malcolm Bartholomaeus said he could see the state's crop reaching a record of up to 11 million tonnes, provided good rain falls in spring. Mr Bartholomaeus said the crop was excellent right across the state, the planting area was larger than 2010 and the season has been better. LUSH: Sanderston farmer Alex McGorman in a paddock of barley in the Mid Murray with his sons Flynn and Angus. Picture: Tait Schmaal Farming along Goyder's Line of Rainfall, north east of Kadina on the upper Yorke Peninsula, the Larwood family expects to better its previous biggest crop in 2010 by 10 per cent. Co-owner Leith Larwood said he didn't have any doubt that the state crop would be a record that would reap about 10 to 15 per cent more grain than ever before. "This will be one of those years that will be talked about for a lifetime," Mr Larwood said. Importantly, the benefits will include helping to keep farmers on the land and feeding the world. ``I've never seen the crops look as good, this will be a huge boost to the whole country. I can't imagine the crops growing any thicker or looking any better, it's just a matter of how they will finish. Mr Larwood added the crops only needed a little more rain and the only risk was if it rained too much late in the season, downgrading quality. Remarkably, the Larwoods who farm on either side of Goyder's Line of Rainfall, expect their wheat and barley crops to yield between 5t/ha and 7.5t/ha this year. The land has been thought to be suitable only for light grazing since Surveyor-General George Goyder established the boundary in 1865. But Mr Larwood believes times have changed. "I think we've lost Goyder's Line," he said. It's a bit like the theory of the rain following the plough in the 1870s. It didn't happen. We can do so much more with the available moisture these days. In one of the success stories of the state's agricultural sector, Mr Larwood said his family hopes to harvest close to 16,000 tonnes of grain from 4800ha this year. ``It's been a remarkable story, we had nothing when my father started here in the 1940s, at a time when a lot of families were well-established," he said. Mr Larwood said his father would not have believed it possible that crops would be yielding four times more grain today than in the 1940s. His son Martin decided in 2005 to start planting crops - rain, hail or shine - by April 28, leading to large yield improvements. "Early sowing means the crops are able to optimise the use of warmer weather during the early growing season and become properly formed by the time winter sets in," Mr Larwood said. Our wheat crops were all in by May 3 and the advantage is once they get their secondary roots down, they can take any amount of rain when it gets wet in winter. Sanderston farmer Alex McGorman, from "Thornby," said he just needed one more good rain in the next two weeks to virtually cement a good season and produce well above average crops. "We don't normally get good prices and yields in the one year, so it would be good if it happens this year," he said.