SOUTH West Victorian farmers are breathing a sigh of relief as widespread rain hydrates the region, quashing fears of a second consecutive dry autumn.
While most of the State received a decent drenching a fortnight ago, with areas recording more than 100 millimeters in four days, it was not until this week that farmers from Colac to the South Australian border could join the autumn break celebrations.
The Glenelg Hopkins region was inundated with 20-30mm of rain in 12 hours, while parched areas around Portland received a welcome downpour of more than 23mm in the same period.
Koroit dairy farmer Harper Kilpatrick (pictured) milks 750 cows and said the autumn break topped off a stellar season for dairy farmers.
"With the milk price good this year, the industry is having a good year and this will be another boost for farmers," Mr Kilpatrick said.
In what is being hailed as the best autumn break in more than 20 years, the majority of the State has received well-above-average rainfall for April.
Farm suppliers have seen a spike in sales of fertiliser, seed and chemical sprays as opportune farmers take advantage of the moisture in the air and germinating pastures.
The weather event follows a decent break that was received in March across most of the State, followed by consecutive mild rain events.
"I couldn't quantify what this means for my business," Koroit dairy farmer Harper Kilpatrick said.
"But production should be up because of the increased green grass going into the cows and the cost of production will be down because we are feeding less.
"This autumn rain will help us maximise grass growth but it is up to us to utilise it, which means getting the cows to eat as much as possible."
Swan Hill has received triple its monthly average, while most of northern and eastern Victoria have had more than 150 per cent of their normal averages for the month, according to Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Richard Carlyon.
"The South West missed out a couple of weeks ago, with northern and western Victoria copping above an inch, while the South West and the Wimmera received 10-30 millimetres over 12 hours (on Monday evening and Tuesday)," Mr Carlyon said.
"It has completed the jigsaw across the State and we will end up with above-average rainfall for April and well-above-average for some parts."
The early break follows one of the driest autumns on record in 2013 when most of the State battled drought conditions with minimal or no rain for seven months.
However, the west received the best of the rain this week in the Wimmera and South West, according to Mr Carlyon, who said the weather pattern had undergone a rapid change following three months of dry and hot weather.
"It seems the series of cold fronts is a transition to cooler conditions as we go into May," he said.
"April has been a wet month but we have seen some mild days with sunny conditions but it looks like those mild temperatures will suddenly plummet this weekend and we're likely to see temperatures closer to winter norms from now on."
A low-pressure system off the east of the State next week could produce reasonable rain for Gippsland next week, according to Mr Carlyon, but this is dependent on where the low develops.
