LAST week’s rain has been a relief to local farmers who are now feeling more confident in the countdown to harvest.
Having recorded 50mm of rain at his property on Tuesday and Wednesday, Quambatook farmer Brett Hosking said he had been “really blessed”.
“This will capture whatever potential is left in the paddock for harvest now,” Mr Hosking said.
“It’s the perfect rain in terms of that grain fill.”
With the weather having reached into the mid-30s over the past couple of weeks, Mr Hosking said the heat had been beginning to take its toll on the winter crops before the rain hit.
“We were starting to see, particularly in the middle of those hot days, a bit of stress around tree lines – even across paddocks in the real heat of the day, you could see the crops were feeling it a bit,” he said.
“Another benefit to this rain is that is has seemed to have brought with it a little bit of cooler weather so they might just get a little bit of a chance to enjoy the moisture around their roots and not having to work quite so hard to survive.”
Mr Hosking said local farmers were now in a good position in the lead-up to this year’s harvest.
“So far I think in Victoria, while not completely immune to it, we have kind of weathered El Niño better than most states, so we’ve got this bit of an opportunity to make sure we are able to fill a feed gap with a lot of the hay being produced for the farmers who don’t have fee, and also with some of the grain we’ve produced,” he said.
“We’ve also be able to contribute towards Australia meeting its export requirements.
“We’ve been blessed with a good season so I think our farmers are certainly doing their bit and making sure their crops are in good condition and ready to fill whatever shortfall that might exist.”
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Kerang recorded 36mm of rain last week while Swan Hill recorded 33mm.
