Ground preparation was the biggest challenge, facing Southern Riverina summer croppers, according to the head of the Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia, Jeremy Morton.
Where farmers would have previously been concerned about water availability or commodity prices, heavy rain was now making it difficult to get equipment onto paddocks.
“It’s worse in some areas than others, there are places where they are just swimming in water,” Mr Morton said.
The recent weather event had seen varied falls, across the Southern Riverina, with Murrumbidgee receiving another 25-30 millimetres of rain.
Moulamein, to the south of the region, only received about five mm.
“It’s probably worst further east, east of Deniliquin, Murrumbidgee is very wet, they have got a lot of more rain than we have.
“This ground preparation thing is a real challenge, things can dry out pretty quickly, but it’s a challenge in the near term,” Mr Morton said.
Farmers were expected to plant between 70-1000 thousand hectares of rice, this season.
“There are a number who would have a winter crop, or pasture crop they were going to bale up, or put into silage, and get a rice crop in, after that,” he said.
Regional rice farmers are busy preparing to help meet the SunRice goal of a 900,000 tonne crop.
Grower Andrew Crossley, has been preparing ground to plant 150 ha of rice.
“A lot of farmers I know are very keen to get a rice crop in this year, especially after the low water allocation limited our ability to grow rice last year,” Mr Crossley said.
In 2015-16 NSW Murray food producers only received 23 percent of their water entitlements, which greatly impacted their ability to grow rice.
NSW Murray was currently on 42 percent of water entitlement, which is expected to increase further, as the Barmah–Millewa borrow has been paid back.
On top of this, Mr Crossley said quite a number of growers took up the Snowy Advance Borrow which allowed them to start planning their summer crops.
“You can definitely feel the excitement around the place. Everyone is keen to get out into the paddock to take care of the preparations needed for planting rice,” he said.
Mr Crossley said the Murray district would certainly be doing its bit to help reach the SunRice goal of 900,000 tonnes of rice, which will help increase jobs not just at SunRice but across the region.
Mr Crossley said the current situation with water availability showed there was room for improvement to ensure water is available for social and economic benefits, not just environmental needs.
“With Hume Dam effectively spilling and large river flows meeting environmental needs people are feeling frustrated that food and fibre production is not given greater consideration.
“The present situation highlights that tweaks need to be made to ensure we maximise productivity,” he said.