Transportation issues causes concerns for broadacre farmers this harvest season

Andrew Weidemann said the rain would cause issues for farmers accessing their paddocks.

"The sides of the roads are totally wet, we are going to have some traffic management issues when it comes to harvest time," he said.

Mr Weidemann said farmers were hoping for dryer weather over the next couple of weeks to be able to use their machinery efficiently.

"There is a potential for bogging for broadacre farmers when harvest time arrives. Farmers had to deal with a lot of bogging around 2010-2011, which was something we didn't enjoy," he said.

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Mr Weidemann said potential health-and-safety risks might also affect laborers this harvest season.

He said farmers in the region were still dealing with excess rain on their properties, with crops such as beans and pulses damaged.

"Bean crops have been wiped off and they are not going to make anything," Mr Weidemann said.

"We are concerned about lentils because they are in a plotting phase currently. When it gets wet like this grey mould becomes an issue and when it warms up we tend to see a lot of fungal diseases."

Mr Weidemann said farmers were expecting a "good" harvest season but damage to beans grown in the Wimmera did create a concern.

"It is going to be difficult to measure the damage to our crops. In the case of beans, I am saying from about 50 to 60 percent have been totalled," he said.

Mr Weidemann said this harvest season was one of the "most" expensive seasons for farmers, with high input prices for commodities such as petrol and nitrogen.

"Over the whole cropping program this year a lot of people would have spent between $300 and $400 a hectare on growing beans," he said.

Mr Weidemann said the silver lining from the heavy rain was the soil being able to retain moisture.

"Wimmera-Mallee soils can retain water very well," he said.