Heavy Rains hit Western District crops, but damage avoided

Hefty rain hit the Western District at the weekend. Here’s what it meant for crops in that region.

Downpour: Up to 50mm in 24 hours drenched crops in south Skipton at the weekend while Ballarat received 40mm and Camperdown 30mm.

A HEFTY downpour of rain hit some cropping areas in Victoria’s Western District at the weekend.

According to WesternAg director Philip Hawker, up to 50mm in 24 hours drenched crops in south Skipton, while Ballarat received 40mm and Camperdown 30mm.

But damage was limited, as crops in south west Victoria are still green and would use the moisture for grain fill, Mr Hawker said.

“So rain wasn’t a big problem,” he said.

About one third of canola crops in area had been windrowed, Mr Hawker said, so there was not a lot of germination in the canola seed.

“The rain wasn’t ideal, but it would have been a lot worse in two or three weeks’ time,” he said.

“Canola harvest will start in about a weeks’ time, and cereals will start in mid to late December .”

And yields are still looking strong and are on track for high volumes.

“Canola should reach about 3.5 tonnes a hectare and wheat should get about 7 to 8 tonnes a hectare,” Mr Hawker said.

“Grain prices also are remaining good, which is encouraging.”

For Inverleigh grower Stewart Hamilton, 53mm in the 24 hours drenched his crops and he had heard a report of 67mm not too far from him.

“We’re not quite ready to harvest – so the crops are still green and weren’t too affected,” Mr Hamilton said.

And for the 300 hectares of crops Mr Hamilton sowed about two and a half weeks ago – the rain was “fantastic”.

“We windrowed canola last week, and haven’t assessed damage there yet, but most crops look fine,” he said.

“A few neighbours have beans so a bit flat there.”

He expects his canola yields to reach about 3 tonnes a hectare this season, wheat should get about 6 to 7 tonnes a hectare and barley 6 tonnes a hectare.

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