An increasing percentage of the state’s grazing country has received a reprieve from the drought, after heavy storm rains.
While large swathes of Victoria remain desperately dry, in recent weeks, there has been a steady band of storms delivering heavy rain and filling dams.
These storms have been localised but the high incidence of storm activity means there is now a small, but important, percentage of the state’s dam-dependant graziers with full storages.
However, in the short-term, farmers who have received heavy rain have been told to carefully monitor water quality.
While they have been delighted with the run-off, fast filling dams contain high levels of debris and other foreign material, such as animal manure, which can cause contamination.
Danny Bingham, Mingay, near Lismore, in the Western District, said he had received 75mm this week in storm activity. “It was fantastic as it filled a lot of dams.
“What is not full now is half full, and everything was just about dry.
“It will mean we can finish carting water, which is a real drain on resources.
“We also will not have to use our bore water, which is OK, but on the salty side.”
Mr Bingham said over 50mm was dumped in just an hour and a half.
Preceding the rain there had been lightning.
“We had an interesting situation, where I was up one end of the farm fighting a stubble fire caused by a lightning strike, while at home, my wife was in the driving rain.
“She could smell the smoke while it was absolutely bucketing down rain.”
Brian Wilson, in the same region, received 70mm, but said run-off on his property was not quite as high.
“We got good run-off from the road and the dam banks, but not a lot of water ran in the paddocks themselves.”
Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR) land management extension officer Heather Field says new water should be tested, with animal manure one potential contaminant.
Ms Field also said it was important for graziers with dwindling water supplies to continue to monitor their water quality. The major water quality problem during dry periods was high levels of salt, she said, while algae could also be a problem.
“During a dry year, low water levels can result in the doubling of salt content over the summer”.
“Poor water quality can affect livestock health, as well as plant growth, soil quality and farm equipment and infrastructure,” Ms Field said.
In general she said the salt content should not exceed 5,000 electrical conductivity (EC) for young stock, 6,000 EC for mature cattle and 9,000 EC for mature sheep.
However, she said stock could tolerate higher levels of salt for short periods.
Farmers could conduct their own salinity tests with cheap EC meters.
In the long term, Ms Field said farmers should consider moving to a reticulated trough system.
“Research has shown animals drinking from regularly cleaned troughs perform better than those that drink directly from dams.”
