If you woke up one morning to find the River Murray coming down your hallway you could be forgiven for a bit of puzzlement. Especially if the Murray was about 20 kms away as the crow flies.

But, in the 1970's, on the Holschier family's property, 'Paringa Vale', that is what would have happened if not for some hasty sandbagging at the front door.

Seems some bureaucrat had forgotten to mention that Green Gully, where the homestead is situated was part of an ancient watercourse and when the Murray flooded it could send the surplus water into Steve Holschier's bedroom.

Flood mitigation and 350 acres of saltbush plantings have helped suppress the problem but a high water mark on the shearing shed serves as a reminder that the river can enter without knocking.

When the Murray flooded it could send the surplus water into Steve Holschier's bedroom...

Today, Steve is the fourth generation to farm the well-known 3,000 acre property at Womboota, near Moama in southern NSW, in the 14" annual rainfall belt. A first-time R.U.M. user last season, Steve grew the hard-wheat variety Vulcan on 240 ha that had been continually cropped for ten years on a legume/wheat/barley rotation. A big rain at the end of April was the ideal time to sow, with 70 kgs/ha of seed supported by 70 kgs/ha of DAP.

Then, in mid-July, Steve put out 4L/ha of R.U.M. with his post-emergent.

The resultant yield of 4 tonnes/ha with only 4% screenings had Steve smiling all the way to his new silos.

And another thing. To really put R.U.M. to the test he also sprayed 4L/ha R.U.M. onto 60ha of Echidna oats that had been sown without any fertiliser whatsoever.

Went 4.2 tonnes/ha.