Mike O'Halloran made 6500 squares of lucerne this summer, usually he would cut 3500

"If the BoM said we were going to get 10 millimetres of rain, we'd get 15mm or 20mm," he said.

His mixed-farming operation comprises prime lambs, an Angus breeding operation which targets the January weaner sales and a lucerne and hay operation which doubled its production in 2023.

"It was a challenge to make hay because of the rains that came pretty much weekly," Mr O'Halloran said.

"To get three years in a row that were wetter than normal and above average is unprecedented.

"You can go back historically and find two wet years in a row, but to find three is unheard of."

It follows the release of the Bureau of Meteorology's 2024 Autumn Long-Range Forecast which revealed Australia has just recorded its third-highest summer rainfall total on record during an El Nino.

In a normal year, Mr O'Halloran would usually produce 3500 small square bales of lucerne hay, however, this season was one "out of the box" after he produced more than double that compared to 2022.

Mr O'Halloran farms with his wife Jane and father-in-law Bill Griffiths and together they trade as Grifforan Pastoral Company.

Each year the operation produces 2500 prime lambs for JBS, 250 weaners and cuts its lucerne off about 70 hectares.

In recent years, the operation has also produced 2500 rolls of pasture hay for the commercial market.

"This season we made 6500 small squares plus 300 rolls on top of that too," he said.

"We've cut lucerne on dry land four times here at Mansfield and we've never done that before.

"Usually we'd get two cuts and put the lambs on the regrowth, but to be able to get four cuts is amazing."

It is a different story for Dunrobin farmers Kevlin and Julie Bateman in the state's west near Casterton.

The couple trade as Baroona and run 350 Angus cows which calve between February and March.

"Our hay yields were down half on the year before," Mr Bateman said.

"We cut about the same acreage of hay as we did the year before and we were down about 800 round rolls compared to the year before."

Graziers like the Batemans experienced a wet May-July 2023 period, which "waterlogged" paddocks before the season "went from one extreme to the other".

"We didn't get the follow-up rain in spring," Mr Bateman said.

"Large rainfall events in mid-December kept feed in the paddocks alive, but in the last four weeks it's really dried off now.

"From a fire perspective, it's not a bad thing because there's not a lot of feed or fuel loading like we did last year."

Mr Bateman said the 2022 season allowed him to build a reserve of hay for his cattle, but he was always mindful of dipping into those reserves.

"We're probably feeding out 10 rounds a day," he said.

"I think I'm pretty comfortable about the season because we've had a decent summer to kill off the bugs in the grass and as long as we get a good autumn break, we should be right."

Bureau of Meteorology senior climatologist Lynette Bettio said there was a 65-75 per cent chance large parts of Australia would receive below-median rainfall this autumn.

"This includes most of NSW, excluding some eastern areas (and) most of Victoria, including Melbourne," Dr Bettio said.

"A range of rainfall outcomes are possible for parts of East Gippsland where there's roughly an equal chance of above or below-median rainfall."