SWAN Hill, along with most of the rest of the state, has recorded a fraction of its average October rainfall, causing many of the region’s grain growers to commence harvest early for the second year running.
After an average start to the growing season — Swan Hill received its winter average in rainfall — September and October proved to be drier than usual.
October in particular has been especially dry as El Niño takes its toll, with Victoria currently on track for its third-driest October on record and Swan Hill recording just 3.6mm of rain, 16 percent of its monthly average.
Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (ECODEV) agronomist Dale Grey said it was likely to be a record-breaking month — and year — for warmth, both in Victoria and across the country.
Mr Grey said, as far as the Mallee was concerned, the hot, dry weather was a result of a combination of factors, such as El Niño and the continued dryness of the land mass directly north of Swan Hill, which preheats the air before it gets to the region.
As a result, the region’s grain farmers have begun looking to harvest in October, about two or three weeks earlier than normal, for the second year running.
“Since we planted the crop we had normal temperatures for all of the year until September/October, when it started to warm up,” Mr Grey said.
“We’ve seen that very rapid finishing to the crops, when that would’ve normally taken longer.”
“That rapid finishing means that we’ve certainly seen some issues with grain size and the quality of the grain at the moment.”
Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) Grains Group president Brett Hosking, a Quambatook grain grower, said he’d started harvesting on Wednesday as dry temperatures early in October accelerated the maturity of the crop.
For more on this story, grab a copy of Friday’s Guardian (October 30).
