The relentless dry weather is wreaking havoc on the wheat crops of the North West.
Drought conditions, which have plagued much of Western NSW for almost two years now, are creeping further east and farmers are praying with increasing urgency for the skies to open
Every day without rain is another nail in the coffin for many crops, as the sun robs struggling plants of what little moisture remains.
The outlook is grim, and while plenty of farmers will harvest a crop in the coming weeks, very few will be happy with the result.
As a general rule, wheat crops to the west of Narrabri will yield below average at 2 – 2.5 tonnes per hectare, while crops to the east will be closer to the district average of 3.2 – 3.5 tonnes per hectare, and may exceed this figure in patches. Further west between Wee Waa and Walgett the conditions are heartbreaking and many crops will fail, in some instances for the third year running.
Robyn Holcombe from “Rayleigh” west of Burren Junction says they haven’t been able to plant a wheat crop for the past two years due to low soil moisture.
“This year we’ve just gone with 800 acres of barley, and it’s all being used as feed for stock.”
Dean Hancock, Senior Consultant for Delta Agribusiness’s Narrabri branch, says those who did manage to plant a crop have been attacked on two fronts.
“We had rain in that March-April period, but then we went through a long, dry period.
“The warm weather we had at the finish made the crops go to head a lot quicker than expected, and then we had a frost that got down to about minus six, which really towelled up a few crops around the Bellata and Edgeroi area.”
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a high chance of rain for the North West Slopes and Plains this Thursday, which could still help in eastern areas, especially around Maules Creek and in the foothills of the Nandewar ranges.
Rain won’t likely improve yields this late in the season, but could help grain quality and size.
Bellata farmer, Drew Penberthy, says farmers are feeling the pressure, but remain optimistic.
“We’re still planting crops and spending money, but just not getting those yields that we want at the end of the season.
“Things are pretty tough out here but that’s the game we’re in, we’re pretty resilient people, we know we’ll eventually get a break.”