BASF Australia was proud to partner with local grain growers Andrew and Rodney Weidemann, from Weidemann Pastoral Co. to establish BASF’s inaugural Community Paddock for the Rupanyup community in north-west Victoria.
Weidemann Pastoral Co. generously designated a paddock on their farm to grow barley for BASF’s inaugural Community Paddock project. Throughout the season, BASF supplied its range of crop protection products suitable for use on the Community Paddock. Following harvest of the crop, the profits made were donated to the Rupanyup Panthers Football and Netball Club.
Follow along the journey of this exciting partnership below.
Community Paddock Progress Reports
Launch day
We publicly launched our Community Paddock partnership with Weidemann Pastoral Co. We kicked off the partnership with a community dinner for all members and supporters of the Rupanyup FNC after training. It was a great opportunity for us to see first hand how much this club means to the Rup area. With over 120 people in attendance, Hot Box Kebabs were kept busy!
Earlier in the afternoon we took a walk through the Community Paddock with some local growers, it was very exciting to see how well the barley crop is performing!
Breaking ground – Sowing day
On Monday 16 May, we broke ground at the Community Paddock with Weidemann Pastoral Co.
It was an exciting day as we got to spend time with Rodney Weidemann before he jumped in the tractor to sow the 52 Ha barley paddock.
Although the conditions early in the day were looking unfavourable, the rain stayed away and the clouds broke, giving us glimpses of the beautiful blue sky in Rupanyup.
After two years of Covid interrupting our plans to kick-off our Community Paddock initiative, it was a wonderful moment to see the paddock being sown.