These paddocks should be lush and green. Now the earth is dry, the lambs perishing

It’s the silent drought. Grazing land in Victoria’s west should be covered in green carpet of grass at this time of year – instead, there is dust rising in the paddocks.

Much of the state has been experiencing unusually dry weather, with some regions receiving the lowest rainfall on record. As the icy winter settles in, western and south-west Victoria are among the hardest hit.

Casterton sheep and cattle farmer Darren Holmberg said the dry conditions were the worst he had experienced in more than 35 years of farming.

He said the ground on his farm in Victoria’s south-west was cracked due to lack of rain and the earth was parched well below the surface.

“You get an inch down, and it’s dry,” he said.

Holmberg said the soil would normally be moist at this time of year, with grass in the paddocks developing a healthy root structure.

Holmberg says he has not experienced conditions this dry in his 35 years of farming. Credit: Nicole Cleary

But he said lambs were struggling to survive the conditions because there was not enough feed. He found 92 lambs dead over five weeks of lambing season.

And ewes, he said, were prioritising their own survival.

“Obviously, the hungry belly overrides the mothering instinct.”

Holmberg said that in previous years he would try to reunite abandoned lambs with their mothers where feasible, but the dry conditions and sheer number of rejected lambs this year made that task near impossible.

He said farmers across the region were being forced to buy hay and grain to feed their livestock, which was highly unusual at this time of year. He said he was spending $1600 a month on buying feed for lambs, and that was a cost he normally wouldn’t incur.

Bureau of Meteorology senior climatologist Zhi-Weng Chua said Victoria’s south-west coast had received the lowest rainfall on record in the nine months to May.

He said western Victoria had also experienced record dry conditions between February and May this year. At Warrnambool Airport, the bureau recorded 83.6 millimetres of rain during that four-month period, compared to the average of 203.2 millimetres.

The low dam levels on Holmberg’s farm.Credit: Nicole Cleary

Hamilton, in the state’s south-west, had just 52.2 millimetres of rain in the four months to May, compared to the average of 150.8 millimetres for that period. The industrial town of Portland had 89.8 millimetres during that time, while the average is 225 millimetres.

State and federal governments are responsible for declaring drought, which they have not done.

However, the Bureau of Meteorology has reported that while far south-western Victoria has received the lowest rainfall on record, other areas had recorded a severe rainfall deficiency.

Melbourne’s water storage has fallen slightly, declining by 3.7 percentage points to 87 per cent capacity, compared to 90.7 per cent this time last year. Chua said the long-term outlook showed Victoria’s west might not receive consistent and heavy rain.

“The latest models are favouring below median rainfall,” he said.

This patch of ground is usually a creek that runs through Holmberg’s property. Credit: Nicole Cleary

In February, the Bureau of Meteorology reported that Melbourne received just 6.2 millimetres of rain that month, and 2.8 millimetres in March. But April was particularly wet, with the gauge at Olympic Park recording 123.8 millimetres. However, the outlook for July to September shows Melbourne has only a 39 per cent chance of above-median rain.

CSIRO research scientist Tess Parker said regions could experience drought-like conditions by missing out on just five to 10 days per year of heavy rain: a downpour of between 10 and 20 millimetres.

She said a few days of rainfall between two and five millimetres would do little to break the extended dry spell in western Victoria.

“That’s not enough to get you out of extended drought,” she said.

Parker said the town of Hamilton had received just 0.4 of a millimetre in February, compared to the monthly average of 25 millimetres. In March, Hamilton received just 0.8 of a millimetre when the monthly average is about 30 millimetres.

Holmberg says farmers across western Victoria are being forced to buy hay and grain to feed their livestock.Credit: Nicole Cleary

Parker said parts of Victoria were experiencing similar weather to large swaths of eastern Tasmania, where there has been extended dry conditions.

Cattle and sheep farmer Georgina Gubbins said dams were empty north of her farm at Heywood, in Victoria’s far south-west.

“Usually, it’s starting to get wet by now, and we’re starting to get run-off, but we’re not,” she said. “There’s still dust coming up in the paddocks. It’s very alarming.”

Despite the lack of rain, it’s been a chilly start to winter this year. Parts of Victoria hit their lowest temperatures in almost 30 years during the week, with Melbourne Airport recording a low of 0.2 degrees and Omeo recording minus 6.4 degrees.

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