The Buraja Recreation Reserve hall was full on Thursday for the annual Sykesy’s Buraja Meeting, an informal get-together/field day for the region’s farmers established years ago by the well known district agronomist.

Following his death in 2014 the meeting was named in his honour.

“Sykesy started a really good day there, a perfect fit,” Riverine Plains chair Ian Trevethan said.

“There’s a casual feel to it, it’s the right time of year. The previous harvest is fresh in your memory and the coming sowing is just around the corner.

“Plus it’s a good catch-up, it’s really good networking or socialising call it whatever. It’s just an opportunity to rub shoulders with your peers and industry representatives and chew the fat.

“It never fails to be a good day.”

The annual meeting is an opportunity for the region’s farmers to discuss the 2017 harvest and the challenges likely to arise in the season ahead.

Riverine Plains executive officer Fiona Hart said the long-standing event was important for the grain growing community.

“The 2017 growing season was highly variable, with dry conditions, frost and weather damage affecting growers differently across the region,” Ms Hart said.

“This has created a range of management scenarios leading into 2018.”

The day started with a post-harvest debrief session, facilitated by Chris Minehan from Wagga-based Rural Management Strategies.

Mr Minehan also addressed some key aspects of preparing for the season ahead.

Using results from the local National Variety Trials and the Riverine Research Centre at Yarrawonga, Nick Poole from FAR Australia addressed regional wheat variety performance and options for autumn planting while David Burch, NSW DPI, and Phil Bowden, Pulse Australia, talked about barley and pulse prospects for 2018.

Thursday’s meeting was followed by a GRDC Southern NSW Regional Cropping Solutions Network meeting which enabled anyone involved in the grains industry to raise issues, constraints and opportunities relevant to the industry.