THE BIG rainfall event of the middle of last week, combined with follow-up falls over the weekend has led to the wettest August since the mid 1990s in many parts of the state, especially in the west.
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The Western District has received up to 100mm for the past ten days, and river systems such as the Hopkins and Moyne have flooded.
Further north, the Wimmera and Loddon systems emerged from a long period of drought, with heavy rain in the Grampians and Pyrenees catchments.
BOM Victorian flood warning services manager Elma Kazazic said last week’s minor flood warning on the Wimmera was the first of its kind since September 1996.
Meanwhile, growers in the Mallee are enjoying the big wet.
Quambatook farmer Graeme Mann said it was the wettest winter he can remember since 1983.
“We’ve had growing season rainfall so far of 193mm, and we have already received 104pc of our average August rainfall, having got close to 50mm so far.
“It’s really wet here. You can’t get access to any of the fallow paddocks as they are too pugged up, it is definitely a big change from the drought we’ve been in for so many years.”
He said rainfall was well on track to match the traditional average of 370mm. It has struggled to get near that figure all this century.
Cereal crops are fully tillered, canola is beginning to flower and field peas have been flowering for three weeks. All are in good condition.
Mr Mann said he was confident of the year ahead, but said management issues such as difficulties spraying or spreading urea could lead to some loss of yield, although he said continuing wet would make up for that.
The big concern, however, remains the threat of locusts.
“There were so many eggs laid here in the autumn, the egg beds make it look like the country’s got measles.”
Further south, there are issues with waterlogging, in particular in the high rainfall zone through the Western District.
However, Hamilton Farm Supplies agronomist Will Osmond said the year was no worse than usual for waterlogging.
“It’s a seasonal problem we get here in the Western District, and currently, I wouldn’t say it is much worse than usual.
“We got a lot of rain in a short time, but when it falls like that, it tends to run straight off the paddocks.
“Guys cropping know their paddocks and know which ones get wet and should have made provisions for it, whether it be raised beds or whatever.”
Water issues may be more of an issue in spots through the southern Wimmera, such as Glenorchy and Dadswells Bridge where there is free water lying in paddocks.
With farming systems in the Wimmera generally designed around moisture conservation, some paddocks may struggle to hold up to the heavy late winter rainfall.
