Andrew Russell from Rutherglen welcomes 23mm of rain

Andrew Russell says 23mm of rain will boost crop germination and pasture growth on his Rutherlen property. But he was acutely aware many others are not so fortunate.

Rutherglen farmer Andrew Russell said he was counting himself lucky after receiving 23mm of rain since Thursday.

He was acutely aware that many areas of Victoria still needed much-needed rain, and he didn’t want to talk up the recent falls too much. However, at Rutherglen, the rain will go a long way to helping to germinate crops and alleviate some of the problems with patch germination.

Before the rain arrived, crops had been getting by with good soil moisture.

“The rain we had in December helped to top up soil-moisture levels,” he said.

“As much as it crueled us at the time, it saved us in a lot of ways.”

In comparing this season to the last, he thought things were looking better; but there was actually 60mm more rain at the same time last year.

Canola emerging at Rutherglen in northern Victoria. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

“I haven’t looked into any of the facts and figures of it, but anecdotally, this seems to be the case,” he said.

“That said we are very much looking forward to any rain.”

All of the winter crops were now sown at his place, but there was also a portion that was experiencing staggered germination.

“My biggest concern now is pastures. We are hoping that any pastures will have a reasonable seed bank and that they will come back,” he said.

After the recent rainfall, Mr Russell said the visual difference was evident.

“Things freshened up immediately instead of dull wilting plants. We now have vibrant erect plants,” he said.

“It was perfect rain.”

Before this, there were concerns about staggered germination.

“We have staggered germination at a rate of 30 per cent but believe all crops will come up after this rain, and we are very grateful,” he said.

Mr Russell said there was more rain forecast for later this week.