Rain brings hope – and a few headaches
Significant rainfall across the district has brought good news – and bad. While for some farmers it means plenty of feed for their stock, for some crop growers it is getting more dire by the day.
Kevin Webber, District Wool Manager for Elders, said the biggest problem facing farmers was not just the rainfall but the humidity, which would impact the size and quality of the yield.
“Travelling around at the weekend and talking to mixed farmers, they are halfway through their harvest and recording some record figures, but the wet weather is holding them up, and the constant humidity could be disastrous down the track,” he said.
“The humidity germinates the seed on the stem and makes the crop worthless. With good prices and massive yields, that might be disastrous for some farmers.
“Luckily, the rain hasn’t impacted as much out this way as it has around the Central West where harvest is in full swing and where most of the rain is forecast over the next week.
“The other problem for many farmers is the fact they can’t get in the paddock with machinery, it’s too wet for anything to operate effectively and they risk getting bogged.
“But that’s just the way with farming – this is Australia where we get droughts and flooding rain.
“The graziers are very happy, and they have had a massive wool yield and the prices for lamb and cattle are through the roof.
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