Dry land farmers look to the skies

As published in the Southern Argus by Deirdre Graham

October 3, 2024

Milang Ag Bureau President Neil Harvey needs 10 to 15mm of rain soon to save his crops as the dry spell drags on. Photo: Deirdre Graham

Farmers across the region are becoming increasingly nervous as the dry spell drags on.

Growers have experienced exceptionally dry conditions across much of the state.

While local conditions have not been as bad as those in the Coorong area – which has recently been declared a drought – Milang Ag Bureau President Neil Harvey said our farmers also need more rain and soon.

“Obviously it was a very dry start, (and) the majority of farmers dry seeded,” he said.

“When the rain did come, the crops emerged fairly well, and June and July we had reasonable rainfall throughout the district.

“In August it started backing off, and unfortunately, September hasn’t delivered what us farmers would like.

“At our place at Woodchester, we have only received seven millimetres for September, which isn’t enough when you get those hot north winds.

“Plus, in the last couple of weeks there has been a couple of major frost events that came in, and obviously, farmers have had to make decisions on what they do with their crops.

“In January we had quite a bit of summer rainfall, and a lot of farmers did a lot of spraying to try and preserve that moisture, and I think if it wasn’t for that preserving of moisture, the crops wouldn’t be where they are now.”

This year Mr Harvey has sown canola, wheat, barley, beans and oats.

“I guess the barley has done a run and is filling quite nicely at the moment, but we really need 10 to 15mm of rain to finish what we have got… at the moment we are sitting on a knife edge – it could go either way,” he said.

“The frosts have had a major impact in the past two weeks, so even though the crops look good and are starting to fill, we still need rain to finish.”

On Saturday night Mr Harvey received just 2.5mm.

“A lot of people were banking on the weekend to get a rain event to carry us over until hopefully we get another one in a week’s time,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the forecast looked good seven days out, but when the time comes it is just not quite delivering.”

Mr Harvey said farmers were banding together.

“We had a combined Ag Bureau meeting just last week with the Monarto and Milang Ag Bureaus, (and) obviously further east it is pretty bad out there, so at the moment it is all about everyone getting around each other and having those social days, and helping each other out if you can,” he said.

“Obviously, the flow-on effects of a drier season flows right through the community, so if the farmer is doing it tough… we are seeing now people are not spending.



“It is not over yet, but we haven’t got much time up our sleeve.