Winter rains across western Victoria have raised hopes that after two years of drought conditions, better times are on the horizon for the state's farmers. Dams are full and once-dusty paddocks are now covered in green pasture, while the weather bureau says more rain should be on the way.
00:00Life is looking good for Clayton Caldo on his farm near Eden Hope in Western Victoria.
00:08This last week with the rain and the sunlight, things are really starting to puff up like it's springtime.
00:15When we visited three months ago, his paddocks were bare and brown.
00:20For two years in a row, they reckon it's as bad as it's ever been.
00:23But a kind winter has delivered rain and given him some optimism.
00:27Things were pretty bleak. We haven't had an abundance of rain but it's come along pretty good.
00:32The rain has eased the pressure on farmers, financially and mentally.
00:37Just the pressure of sheep feeding and riding out a lot of bills for hay and grain has been massive.
00:45Near Matoa, grain grower Paul Petering says his luck changed on the King's birthday long weekend when his first proper rain of the year finally arrived.
00:55Well, the first six months were extremely dry and that sort of thing and had us wondering.
00:59He knows just how much rainfall he would order for spring.
01:03Oh, it'd be lovely to get our 40 mil for August and our 40-odd mil for September and, yeah, a little bit at the start of October.
01:10And then, if all being well, it could just shut off.
01:14And according to the Weather Bureau, more rain is on the way.
01:18The Bureau's latest long-term forecast is for strong rain through spring and into summer.
01:23We are expecting above average rainfall for pretty much the entire state
01:27with the odds of having above average rainfall highest across western parts of Victoria.
01:31But farmers are a cautious bunch.
01:34It's only a forecast. And, yeah, it doesn't always come home.
Be the first to comment