Late rain a mixed blessing for farmers delaying harvest and fuelling grass growth
“Victorian farmers are racing the clock as November’s patchy showers give some crops a late boost while leaving others struggling.
November showers have brought a late boost to crops across Gippsland and southwest Victoria after a dry start to spring.
But patchy, stop-start falls are delaying harvest for some farmers, while others have already missed their window for any yield improvement.
And it’s not over yet, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting a 70 per cent chance of up to 5mm in Echuca on Monday, 50 per cent chances of 5mm in Bendigo on Saturday and Monday, and a 50 per cent chance of 5mm in Hamilton on Saturday.
Rainfall figures from the BoM show Warrnambool has received 73mm for November so far, including 16mm in the past week, followed by Hamilton with 59mm, 14mm of it falling in the last seven days. Portland has recorded 49mm (10mm this week), with Charlton 23mm (4mm this week), Bendigo 22mm (2mm), Echuca 21mm (2mm), Swan Hill 18mm (2mm), Hopetoun 10mm (1.6mm), and Mildura 8mm, with no rain over the past seven days. In New South Wales, Albury has had 20mm, including 4mm this week, while Wagga Wagga has received 19mm (1mm).
Hamilton farmer Andrew Nagorcka said it was “pretty wet” and there were hopes that the weather would fine up so he could get onto the paddocks.
“We need to get going with windrowing canola next week, and we have already started cutting hay last week,” he said.
Despite the wetter conditions he said the rain was still beneficial to cereal crops which might not be harvested until after Christmas.
“With canola we are tracking about a week later than last year, and beans are about a week later too,” he said.
“Everything has plenty of soil moisture at the moment.”
Meanwhile, farmers have also been on alert with many fire danger periods starting.
Country Fire Authority South East region deputy chief officer Trevor Owen said the rain was welcome, but the falls were fuelling the grass growth in Gippsland and other parts of the state.
“If you split Victoria in half, the northern aspect has gone to seed and has been a little bit drier as would typically happen at this time,” he year. “But the southern half it’s still in that growth cycle.
“There are a lot of areas where grassland growth is up to waist height and that will dry out. “We’re expecting that to become quite a hazard towards the end of December into January.”
Southwest council areas yet to begin the fire danger period include Colac Otway, Corangamite, Glenelg, Moyne, Southern Grampians, Surf Coast and Warrnambool, according to the CFA website.
In Gippsland, the council areas of East Gippsland, Wellington, Latrobe City, Baw Baw, South Gippsland entered the fire danger period three weeks ago.
Useful rain this month, including 74.4mm in Bairnsdale and 86.6mm in the Latrobe Valley, has temporarily eased the threat of fire.
