It’s a season of contrasts for our farmers with Upper Hunter grain growers enjoying near perfect harvest conditions while coastal producers are looking skywards for some decent falls to boost pastures and water storages.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Merriwa and Cassilis district farmers are on cloud nine with the current dry spell as they are all busily harvesting their winter crops, which thanks to an excellent growing season, are bountiful.
However, further up the coast river levels in both Dorrigo and Bellingen are predicted to drop to a level not seen in two decades.
Late last month on the Bellinger River flows were reduced to 15.7 megalitres per day compared to the average flow of 225 megalitres per day last year.
Given these levels water restrictions are now in place in the Bellingen district..
Similar dry conditions are also prevailing in the Macleay with below average rainfall recorded so far this year.
While districts over the range received record winter rainfall that was not the case along the coast which entered winter extremely ‘dry’ following a record hot autumn.
Spring started well with cooler weather and some rain but by the end of November, due in part to prevailing westerly winds, pastures are wilting.
Once again the situation in the Upper Hunter is somewhat better as the season was a bit later, grasses and clovers have seeded well - there's a bit more protection from wind and there's been scattered storms - pastures are still looking good.
The Bureau of Meteorology forecast for December-February doesn’t contain much joy either with its predictions of a hotter and drier than average summer for the region.
Good news with plenty of irrigation water available in the Hunter system its great weather for haymaking.
And cattle prices are remaining steady although they have dropped off the record levels of September.