Energy Efficiency

Record wheat prices had farmers primed to sow a crop that could help them bounce back financially after years of poor or failed harvests caused by drought, but rain is badly needed.

The latest drought figures released by the State Government show 48.4 per cent of the state is in drought, up from 42.9 per cent last month and another 23.6 per cent is marginal and 28 per cent satisfactory.

Parts of the Bourke, Braidwood, Central Tablelands, Forbes, Goulburn, Molong and northern New England districts moved back into drought in the past month.

All of the Coonamble, Coonabarabran, Tamworth and Narrabri districts went from satisfactory to marginal.

Almost all the NSW grain belt is now either in drought or marginal, despite the fact many areas received good La Nina summer rain. Burren Junction in the north usually gets 40 millimetres in April but only scored 5 millimetres this year, while in the south Corowa usually has 44 millimetres and received 10.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s latest rainfall outlooks suggests the La Nina event in the Pacific Basin is weakening; computer models indicate a return to neutral conditions over the outlook period of May-July. At the southern end of the NSW grain belt there is only a 50 per cent chance of rainfall being above-average.

In its latest grains report, the NSW Department of Primary Industries is forecasting an autumn-winter wheat sowing of 3.4 million hectares, but good soaking rains will be required to achieve forecast plantings. In 2007 an estimated 3.04 million hectares was planted but only 1.63 million hectares harvested as a result of widespread drought. The 2007-08 harvest was the states smallest in more than a decade.

Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald, said (of the drought data) ‘these figures represent a real fear in the country that our winter crop may yet again be savaged by this merciless drought as the crucial autumn break has not arrived and time is running out’.

Many farmers have suffered more than seven years of consecutive drought failed crops and dwindling water supplies. The department estimates 5 to 15 per cent of the forecast winter crop has so far been sown into dry soil in the hope rain will come.

Ian Macdonald went on to say that ‘already, the NSW canola crop has been slashed by 30 per cent to an expected planting area of 200,000 hectares because we have not witnessed a good wet start to the sowing season; predictions are for a 5.4 million hectare winter crop comprising 4.69 million hectares of cereals and 0.71 million hectares of pulses and oilseeds.

The next two to three weeks are crucial for croppers to see this size crop realised; the window for planting wheat will remain open for more than a month for many farmers, but in short, the bare minimum they need is at least 25-50 millimetres in southern NSW and 50-75 millimetres in northern NSW, this would be enough to let farmers get this crop in the ground’.