Heavy rain brings hope to drought-stricken farmers in NSW
Heavy rain on Saturday actually reached some drought-stricken country towns, giving hope to desperate farmers that they can plant a winter crop. But there are still fears for a catastrophic countrywide hay shortage in parts of NSW.
NSW
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A band of heavy rain, the joyous legacy of a tropical cyclone, swept through a narrow strip of NSW farming country in the early hours of yesterday, from Walgett in the northwest to the coast near Newcastle.
The formerly bone-dry Upper Hunter was soaked, including a record fall of 128mm — the highest in a 24-hour period — over Cassilis, west of Scone. And in drought-ravaged Gunnedah there was even a “flood rescue” by the SES.
More modest totals, between 2mm and 25mm, were recorded across much of the North West, Central West and South West, thanks to a strong cold front that pulled down tropical moisture from Queensland left behind by ex-tropical cyclone Trevor.
The rain has given hope to desperate farmers that they can plant a winter crop.
Until yesterday, grazier Bernie McBain was describing his 690ha of maroon dirt along the dusty Castlereagh River at Binnaway as “hell on earth”.
He worried he couldn’t afford to feed cattle through another winter — “it would just be too expensive and too stressful”, he said.
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But an ecstatic Mr McBain will now sow oats and barley from today, after he got lucky, his property sitting under a local storm that dumped 93mm of rain between 1am and 3am.
Saturday’s rainfall was the heaviest fall Mr McBain’s rain gauge has recorded since December 2010.
“I’ve had enough rain to get a crop out of the ground, but I need it to rain again before the frosts set in around Anzac Day,” Mr McBain said.
Before yesterday’s falls, Binnaway was one of the state’s driest towns, where local farmers were earlier this month gifted $250,000 of hay from Rural Aid.
Tamworth farmer Kim Lewis said locals welcomed the downpour and the fleeting relief it brought to the area.
At Gunnedah, an hour’s drive west of Tamworth, vet Mark Baker’s 320ha property was the driest it’s been in 120 years based on family rainfall records, but received 75mm between 5.30am and 6.30am yesterday. It has given him the confidence to sow oats.
“The dams are full for the first time since we had a freak storm through here three Christmases ago,” Mr Baker said.
“We will sow oats at the end of next week, hope to snag another inch or two by the end of April and we’d on way to being back in good shape.”
However Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Nick Neynens said that regional and rural NSW should not expect further rain this week and should instead prepare for the heat to return.
“We’ve got a strong front that has pulled down moisture from ex-tropical cyclone Trevor, and that delivered widespread rain to most of the state. This precipitation is expected to contract to the north east and then clear,” he said.
Originally published as Heavy rain brings hope to drought-stricken farmers in NSW
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