‘This gives me confidence in the season’: Rain brings sweet relief

Farmers have tipped out up to 159mm after welcome rain soaked parts of Victoria, NSW and South Australia. See where the rain fell.

Falls of up to 159mm have drenched parts of Victoria and southern NSW, with farmers describing the rain as late but welcome.

Rain fell from Friday to Monday, with steady falls still expected throughout Monday. The Bureau of Meteorology showed over the past seven days there was 159mm at Archerton, 157mm at Charnwood, 141mm at Whitlands, 138mm at Strathbogie North, 133mm at Hunters Hill, 128mm at Upper Buckland, 125mm at Mongans Bridge, 122mm at Moroko Park, 103mm at Falls Creek, 102mm at Wrightley, 100mm at Harris Lane, 97mm at Wallaby Creek, and 96mm at Warrenbayne.

The Toland family at Violet Town measured 39mm of rain over the weekend. Picture: Supplied

Agrivision Consultants agronomist Billy Forrester from Swan Hill said between 30-40mm had fallen at the weekend, meaning crops now had a chance.

“Before this rain, some areas west of here were probably not going to strip a crop and now there’s a chance they will if we have a kind spring,” Mr Forrester said.

“And for those who had rain on Anzac Day and had their crops up, it’s been a great rain.”

Mr Forrester said there was relief rain forecasts had actually materialised.

“There was plenty of spraying and plenty of urea going out on crops leading up to the rain and thankfully it delivered,” Mr Forrester said.

“It’s been a bit of a hard season to manage and yes, the rain is later than we had hoped but we will take what we can get.

This dam at Violet Town was almost empty before weekend rain. Picture: Supplied

“If we get a good spring, there will be some croppers that will still get decent yields.”

In northeast Victoria, Anna Toland said they received 39mm at the weekend at their Violet Town property, bringing the total to about 75mm for the month.

Ms Toland said dams were starting to fill and the rain would set up for pasture growth when the weather warmed up.

“We might be able to stop feeding sheep soon too, which would be a bonus,” Ms Toland said.

Graeme McCrow of Westmere in the Western District said about 14mm had fallen at his place since Friday and it was still raining on Monday morning. He said the showers and light rain had continued throughout the weekend.

Russell Hocking of Prairie says the recent rain is a “re-set” for the season. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Cropping farmer Russell Hocking of Prairie said 37mm had fallen at his place over the past few days.

“This now resets the year, and we are back in with a chance again now,” he said.

Mr Hocking said things were looking mixed and there were still some crops that were not as good as they could be.

“On the whole I think we can anticipate an average yield after this rain,” he said.

Across the border in South Australia, Richard Konzag of Mallala said he measured 40mm for the past week.

“This gives me confidence in the season, and that was the biggest thing we needed,” he said.

“We are nearly at three inches for July so far,” he said.