WIDESPREAD falls of over 200 mm in northern NSW and Queensland have northern farmers generally dancing for joy.
Although there are reports of stock losses in places such as Coonamble and Brewarrina in NSW, generally drought-stricken farmers have welcomed the news.
The heavy rain, which was caused by the tail-end of Cyclone Lawrence which swept through the north-west coast of Western Australia before Christmas, began around Christmas Day and has only just dissipated this week.
Overall, it will be a little late to see wholesale summer crop plantings, although some farmers on the Darling Downs and the Liverpool Plains have decided to make some late plantings.
Mullaley farmer Xavier Martin said in general it was slightly too late for sorghum plantings on the Liverpool Plains, especially given farmers would need to allow some time for paddocks to dry out before planting.
He suggested farmers would instead look at later summer crops such as mung beans and sunflowers, which generally are not as profitable as sorghum, but this year bore consideration due to good prices.
“There’s a bit of incentive to plant sunflowers this year, as the prices look pretty good, and they are better suited than sorghum to a late plant.”
Mr Martin said while it was past the optimum sowing window for sorghum, many large mixed farming operators would still plant sorghum.
“It’s a real dual-purpose thing, these farmers rely on the stubbles to provide a bit of feed after the grain harvest in May or June, when the frosts mean there isn’t a lot of pasture growth about.”
However, he said sorghum acreage would be less than half of the previous two seasons, a combination of the late start to the summer season and the higher prices of other summer crops such as sunflowers bringing them into the equation.
The other major option for mixed farmers will be to control summer weeds when they can get back on the paddock and then plant a dual purpose, long season grazing oat in February to provide autumn feed.
He said the countryside had received a solid soaking, with many of the natural watercourses that rarely see water running.
“We are seeing some of those creeks running higher than the rivers at the moment, the whole area is pretty damp.”
In Queensland, there has been widespread general rain across much of the state’s agricultural area, including much-needed falls on the Darling Downs.
Although it is late, the rain has fallen gently enough to allow farmers on the paddocks quickly and some growers in the area are considering late sorghum plantings.
The coastal belt of Central Queensland received widespread rain, while the CQ Highlands around Emerald did not receive as general falls, although there are some pockets that had good totals.
The western Queensland pastoral district received flooding rains, with more than 200mm at Longreach.
Many of the seasonal creeks and rivers, such as the Barcoo River and Coopers Creek are flooding, while tributaries of the Darling, such as the Paroo and Bulloo Rivers are also at minor flood levels.
It is likely to result in solid pastoral demand for Victorian cattle from the current weaner sales.
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