Alex Dalgliesh of Waverley Farms accepts the Dryland Field Wheat Farming Excellence Award from judge Alan Wright while Berrigan Show Society president Neville Dalgliesh presents the Berrigan Show Dryland Field Wheat Competition prize to Bruce Atkinson of Hatfield Pastoral.
The Atkinson family of Hatfield Pastoral delivered the ‘cream of the crops’ in 2023, taking out the Berrigan Show Society’s Berrigan Dryland Field Wheat Competition.
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The win saw the Atkinsons go on to represent Berrigan in the AgShows NSW and Suncorp Bank regional finals covering the Western Region of NSW.
They narrowly missed out on a placing at those awards.
The Atkinsons and other local growers who produced outstanding results in the Berrigan competition were officially named and celebrated in a special social event on Sunday night.
Second in the Berrigan Dryland Field Wheat Competition was Swann Farming, and third was the Dalgleish family at Waverley Farms.
The Dalgleish family was also awarded Berrigan Show’s separate Farming Dryland Wheat Farming Excellence Award.
The local crop entries were judged at the beginning of November, by Alan Wright.
Mr Wright was formally an agronomist at Howard and Co in Berrigan and is a member of the Walbundrie Show Society.
He said the local crops for 2023 were a “high standard and tight bunch”, with just points splitting the top two winners.
“You always learn something, but it is a tough job,” he said of the judging process.
“You are looking at someone’s pride and job, and pulling it apart to find faults.”
Mr Wright estimated the Atkinson crop to yield 5.2 tonnes per hectare, being the best-yielding crop in the local competition.
He said deciding on the Farming Excellence award was equally as hard.
He said while all local competitors embraced technology, it was the variable rate application of fertiliser and lime that placed the Dalgliesh family ahead.
The statewide Dryland Field Wheat Competition is supported by Suncorp Bank, Flexi-Coil, Lowes Petroleum, The Land, Duel Chelate, and AgShows NSW.
Judge Alan Wright, Nick Atkinson of Hatfield Pastoral and Berrigan Show Society president Neville Dalgliesh in the Atkinsons winning Berrigan Show Dryland Field Wheat Competition crop.
Judge Alan Wright, Toby and Jake Dalgliesh of Waverley Farms and Berrigan Show Society president Neville Dalgliesh in the Dalgleish crop.
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