FARMERS throughout the district are still counting the cost of last week’s substantial rain, fearing crops could be downgraded in what had been shaping up to be a lucrative yield year.
Headers came to a standstill last week during the peak harvest period due to the downpour.
Swan Hill recorded 102.8mm throughout November, including 85.4mm recorded on Wednesday.
As farms continued to dry out, the extent of the damage was yet to be determined, and some paddocks were still inaccessible due to the deluge.
Swan Hill farmer Leigh Bryan said the Wednesday rainfall that caused flash flooding throughout the district was unfortunate for the farming community, with harvest in full swing.
“There’s a lot of crop still out there,” he said.
Mr Bryan said farmers were at different stages of their harvest program but he considered himself one of the lucky ones, almost 90 per cent of his harvest completed prior to last week.
“There’s a lot of people way worse off,” he said.
“Quite a few have only completed around 60 per cent of their harvest, but I would say the average would be between 70 and 80 per cent, with the odd one finished.”
Mr Bryan said farmers were closely monitoring the weather as any future rain could be problematic, with concerns crops could already be downgraded to feed.
“Lentils are a concern and there’s still a few sitting out there,” Mr Bryan said.
He said farmers were having flashbacks to last year, adding one of the biggest issues would be gaining access to paddocks.
“Some roads have been completely flooded. The problem now is trying to get the grain out.”
Piangil farmer Mark Kentish said they were very lucky to escape the heavy rainfall and flash flooding that inundated streets and paddocks in Swan Hill.
The town received about 38mm in the past fortnight.
“We were very lucky,” Mr Kentish said.
“While it’s fairly normal to get some rainfall during harvest, it is frustrating and has pushed harvest back while we wait for things to dry out.”
Mr Kentish said there were still concerns some crops could be downgraded, but that would be dependent on the weather in the coming days.
“Hopefully the wind stays around and can help dry everything out and save the quality,” Mr Kentish said.
“We don’t want hot temperatures with no wind. We need the wind to lower the moisture.”
Despite the rain, Mr Kentish said this year’s harvest was still shaping up to be “one of the better ones”, despite the weather causing a few issues throughout the season.
“Our lentils got caught in a dry patch when we had a dry spell through the later part of winter and early spring,” he said.
“The October rain was a bit late, but still beneficial.”
