Patchy rain across Central Victoria on Monday and Tuesday nights has pleased those grain and livestock producers lucky enough to get it.
Highest totals were 38 millimetres over the two nights, with a large area receiving 8-20mm.
At Majorca, 60 kilometres north of Ballarat, Dave Willis said the rain was perfectly-timed.
Mr Willis farms with wife Tammie and mother Barb, and had just completed sowing this season’s program late Monday night and tipped out 16mm the next morning.
“It’s nice to actually get more than the forecasters predicted,” Mr Willis said.
It’s nice to actually get more than the forecasters predicted.
- Dave Willis, Majorca
A further 15.5mm fell on the farm on the farm on Tuesday night.
Elsewhere rainfall figures for the 48 hours, up to 9am Tuesday, were patchy with centres along the Murray – Wodonga and Yarrawonga – receiving generally around 7-12mm.
Areas to fare better were Gisborne (27mm), Avoca and Dunolly (35mm), and Broadford (16mm).
Stew MacPherson, Glenorchy, said the district received around 8-17mm.
In the Goulburn Valley, Scott Donaldson, Robson Donaldson Livestock, Shepparton, said most of the company’s catchment area had around 9mm on Monday night.
A further 3-8mm was recorded on Tuesday.
He said the cropping farmers had sown dry and were relying on rains to keep emerging crops going.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting that inland Victoria and NSW “have a moderate chance of a dry start to winter”.
However the reliability of that forecast was stated as being “very low”.
For the winter outlook, the Bureau said there was “no strong indication that winter will be particularly wetter or drier than average for most of the country”.