Anxious time for grain farmers with late rain causing delays

MOST Victorian grain farmers have resumed harvesting after unwelcome rain at the weekend.

Racing rain: Carwarp's Barry McNabb was racing the weekend's rain on Friday which has delayed but not yet damaged the Victorian harvest. Picture: Glenn Milne.

MOST Victorian grain farmers have resumed harvesting their crops after unwelcome rain caused some anxious moments on the weekend.

“It does cause a bit of worry but we should be fine as long as there’s not much more,” Carwarp farmer Barry McNabb said.

Rain totals across the McNabb paddocks ranged between 10-20mm on Sunday morning, which may cause a small drop in grain weight.

READ MORE: Big weekend rain totals

“It shouldn’t cause any damage but it is the first stop we’ve had,” he said.

Mr McNabb said many crops in the northern Mallee were “around average” which he said was a good result after a challenging season.

“We were pretty lucky compared to a lot of other areas and if we had’ve got that last rain, well, we could have had a really good year.”

Mr McNabb said he had been harvesting his brother’s crops until his own grain ripened fully.

“Rain at this time of year does make you a little anxious but we should be all right as long as there’s no more. It dries pretty quickly.”

He expects to resume harvesting either Monday night or early Tuesday once silo moisture tests were navigated.

READ MORE: Damp end to spring in Victoria