January 31st, 2025Region’s farmer hopes pinned on autumn rain
The region’s farmers are hoping for a good autumn break with decent rainfall following a year of well below average rain.
An analysis of 2024 rainfall data from almost 200 Bureau of Meteorology weather stations right across Australia show that Ballarat was Victoria’s driest centre for the past year, having received 442mm – or equivalent to just 64 percent of its annual average.
The BOM’s data analysis shows that the next driest centre for the past year was Stawell (339mm or 72 percent of its annual average) and then Horsham (266 or 73 percent of its annual average).
Local farmers like John Drife, whose family has been farming for many generations at Glendaruel, just south west of Clunes, says last year’s lower than average rainfall significantly impacted the amount of hay that was cut and baled on his property.
However, it was a mixed bag with some good outcomes with his grain crops of canola and wheat – both of which served to compensate John, and quite a few of the region’s farmers, for the lower-than-average hay yield.
“We were short on rainfall right through spring so our hay paddocks produced about a quarter to a third of what they should produce – about two rolls to the acre when it should have been about six to the acre,” John says.
With his down-on-average hay yield now shedded, John’s been busy in recent days getting the last of his large round straw bales, made from the season’s wheat stalks (remaining after the wheat grain has been harvested from them), out of the paddocks.
“It’s been a pretty evaporative summer so far,” he says.
“We’re feeding stock at the moment every day and we don’t normally start until February.
“We are looking for a good autumn break (with rainfall) in early April.”
Clunes farmer Malcolm Hull says the availability of on-farm water is now becoming a real issue especially for local farmers who rely solely on dams.
“The dams are very low now. Water is the issue.”
Malcolm says his barley crop of 2024 was saved “by the skin of the teeth” by rainfall that arrived in late October-early November.
“I’ve kept some grain back still sitting in the silo knowing we will more than likely need this before the autumn break,” he says.
“The stock are nibbling their way through hay very quickly and I suspect we will have to buy some in. We didn’t have such a great spring and now with this hot dry summer the stock are cleaning the paddocks out.”
A little to the east, Ullina farmer Tim Barry is planning to start dry sowing up to 900 acres of grain crops once again, from April.
“There is no real subsoil moisture at the moment so we will need good autumn rain to get up and growing,” Tim says.
“We will dry sow starting about April 14 with canola, and then we’ll sow wheat in early May. We’ll also be looking at sowing some oats as well which are milled locally at UniGrain at Smeaton.
“Last year the last rain was the difference between a terrible year and a reasonable one. Our cereal hay was still quite good but grass hay was nearly non-existent.”
Words” Eve Lamb
