Drought-affected NSW farmers desperate for widespread rain

FLOODING rain has missed farmers in the state’s most productive regions, forcing them to begin selling their livestock in preparation for another year of failed crops.

FLOODING rain has missed farmers in the state’s most productive regions, forcing them to begin selling their livestock in preparation for another year of failed crops.

A wet-weather trough that drenched the Hunter Region last week is still moving slowly up the NSW coast causing flash flooding, but further inland, farming towns such as Walgett haven’t had a drop.

The patchy nature of the rainfall saw isolated showers this month break the longest dry spell in 45 years at a horse trail-riding facility on the north coast, 90 minutes from Sydney, giving 230 horses their first feed of fresh grass in five months.

Some isolated showers gave some farmers a break as they took 230 horses for a fresh green feed. Picture: Peter Lorimer

The horses were more than delighted to see water. Picture” Peter Lorimer

“There was no green grass on the property anywhere before the rain — all the paddocks were brown and crispy under foot,” Glenworth Valley Outdoor Adventure horse riding centre manager Ariel Ewart-Bremer said.

The team of horse handlers were so excited, they mustered the entire herd across the swollen ­Popran Creek to give them access to green pasture.

But most farmers pinning their hopes on soaking autumn rain to save them from the fifth crop failure in the last six years have been delivered a blow from the Bureau of Meteorology, which declared that a La Nina weather event associated with sustained wet weather had petered out.

While the state is not officially gripped by widespread drought, farmers are doing it tough in the northwest region around Walgett, the far west around Bourke, the Western Riverina around Griffith, and from Dubbo in the central west across to Bathurst in the central tablelands.

The horses had to cross a swollen creek to the fresh grass. Picture: Peter LorimerHorses rolled around on the ground as fresh patches of grass grew from the rain. Picture: Peter Lorimer

The horses had to cross a swollen creek to the fresh grass. Picture: Peter LorimerHorses rolled around on the ground as fresh patches of grass grew from the rain. Picture: Peter Lorimer

NSW Farmers president Derek Schoene said farmers in the upper Hunter Region around Scone were among the hardest hit, despite 6mm of rain falling last week.

“The season is very patchy; we don’t have widespread drought but there are areas in NSW doing it very tough,” he said. “Some farmers are offloading cattle ­because of dry conditions, which has a depressing ­effect on the cattle price.”

While the situation is dire for many farmers, widespread prolonged rain in the lead up to May could result in a good season. Livestock markets are healthy now but farmers will increasingly sell their animals unless the state gets a drenching.