The dry June has given way to handy rainfalls, across much of southern Victoria, and even parts of the Wimmera and Mallee.
North west of Hopetoun, cropper Wayne Huf, said his crops – wheat, barley, export oaten hay, lentils, field peas and vetch, were going along nicely.
“We were getting towards the dry side, now it’s flying along, it’s beautiful,” Mr Huf said.
“We had what could be said as probably the best break you could hope for and two great rains during our sowing programme which gave us a full profile of moisture.
He said he farmed 3300 hectares, including sheep in the mix, and said the property had gone six weeks without substantial rainfall.
“But over the last but over the last 10 days or so, we have managed to accumulate roughly 12- 15mm in small amounts.
“I am quite confident still of achieving an average year yield wise, and together with the much stronger grain prices, look forward to having a successful season.”
Birchip cropper David Ferrier said his property had recieved between 12-15mm of rain, in showers, in the last week.
“It’s keeping it nice and damp on top, which is good,” Mr Ferrier said.
“We had good rainfall, at sowing, so our crops are tracking along, quite nicely, at the moment.”
He said he was growing wheat, barley, canola, lentils, chick peas and field peas, as well as running 1200 ewes, on 5000 hectares.
”We had a very dry June, one of the driest we have seen, so it’s a welcome relief to see some sort of rain coming through in July – it puts a bit of confidence back in the season,” he said.
“We still need more rain to get us through the rest of the season, but we are in a pretty good position.”
Lawloit cropper and prime lamb producer John Bennett, who has a property between Nhill and Kaniva, said the dry June helped the crops “get away nicely.
“We had one of our wettest Mays on record and our second driest June, but we have had between 50-60mm for this month, which is amazing,” Mr Bennett said.
“I am very conscious of fact so many areas aren’t good, especially South Australia and Western Australia, but it’s on track a bit again and I am conservatively optimistic.”
At Elphinstone, Duncan Barber, who has a Merino operation said it had been “bloody cold.”
He said Coliban Park had received between 38mm and 44mm, but also had frost, which burst water pipes.
The flock was handling the weather very well.
“They would much prefer a dry winter, than a wet one,” Mr Barber said.
“It’s certainly been a turn around – before the end of June, it was starting to go dusty and the paddocks were going yellow.”
At Walkerville, in South Gippsland, Rob Lilley said his beef cattle were “suffering a little bit” because of the rain.
“It’s as wet as wet. It’s a normal year for us, it’s cold, it’s wet, the wind’s blowing, our rainfall is pretty well normal,” Mr Liley said. He said the property had received 140mm in the last six weeks.
“But no matter how wet it is through the winter, you still have to get the rain through spring,” Mr Liley said. “Most of our dams are pretty full, with all the drains in the ‘go’ position, so we have had a fair bit of run off.”
Near Cobden, dairy farmer Craig Dwyer has recorded 38mm of rain in the last two days.
“The Goldilocks winter has turned towards ‘too soft’ now,” Mr Swyer said.
Mr Dwyer, who milks 230 cows, said his greatest concern was that the property had not yet recieved any run off. Kyabram dairy farmer Scott Wells said the property had received 12mm over the last few days.
“That’s all we want for another couple of weeks, after a very dry June – really we couldn’t ask for much better,” Mr Wells said.
