Phil Proctor, a fourth generation cropper, from 'Inglewood' near Yeelanna on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in SA, tells it like he saw it.

"I'd sprayed a paddock with paraquat to prevent some weed germination. Then a couple of acres of neighbouring Frame wheat started to turn sickly yellow while the rest of the crop was a healthy green. Obviously there'd been some spray drift."

"As it turned out, a day or so later I was about to spray 5L/ha of R.U.M. on the rest of the wheat because it was tillering nicely."

"So, even I though I thought 'death was imminent', I sprayed the affected areas as well."

"Well, within about ten days I noticed them starting to 'green up'."

"After two weeks the leaves had broadened and merged with the rest of the paddock."

"I mean, those acres were well and truly 'gone'."

"The crop was sown in late May into 1" of rain, with a further 5" up to August."

Phil's 400 ha property averages about 350-380 mm of rain annually but at the time of this story the district was well down on average. Worse was yet to come of course, as the drought started to bite.

Even so, Phil managed to strip 13 bags/acre of the R.U.M.-treated wheat, compared with 9.5bags/acre where R.U.M. was not applied.

R.U.M. can help you sleep better? Amen to that.

But Ian Pengilly, 'Tully View', near Canowindra, is quite serious.

"Most people don't understand the stress involved in setting up for a new cropping season. It was getting to the point where I wasn't looking forward to it. Had I ordered enough of the right fertiliser? Did the paddocks need working up a bit more? Or less? Above all, was the soil OK?"

Ian has a point. But now he's a lot more relaxed.

"I've been increasing my use of R.U.M. each season and decreasing my dependence on super and urea", Ian said.

"And this year, in the middle of a bad drought, we were one of the very few properties in the region to trouble the silo. In fact our nearest silo never opened at all and we had to do some hard talking to even get the Canowindra silo to take our crop."

Ian had stripped a 15bag/acre of R.U.M.-grown Sunstate wheat - and, after six years of R.U.M., his soil is as friable and fertile as when he planted.

"We're seeing earthworms reappearing in the paddocks, and even the 'old man' is ploughing again just for the pleasure of it."

Meanwhile, Ian gets a lot more sleep.

(from left) Peter Irwin (Beaulieu R.U.M.), Ian Pengilly, and Geoff Doberer (Mid State Soil Improvers) check soil moisture levels