Victorian farmers are desperate for rain in the next fortnight to avoid further yield losses in grain crops.
Yield potential across the Mallee region took a hit in late September when crops were blasted by hot, northerly winds.
Crops were already desperate for rain when the winds hit after limited September rain.
Crops are holding on better in the southern Mallee and Wimmera, where September rainfall was a little better. Nonetheless, soil moisture reserves have disappeared and farmers have been pinning their hopes on some early October rainfall to finish crops.
ABARES estimated Victoria’s 2017 wheat crop at 3.5 million tonnes with a yield of 2.3 tonnes per hectare, but this is now looking optimistic after the unfavourable finish to the season.
