As winter rain batters some parts of WA, some farms remain parched and 'desperate'

Australia Broadcast Center

19 hours ago

The first month of winter has come and gone, delivering above average rainfall to parts of WA, while leaving some inland farming areas parched and desperate.
For Cunderdin farmer Holly Godfrey, it has been a disappointing start to the season.
"I think for the year to date, we've had around 50 millimetres, so we're really, really needing a bit of rain," Ms Godfrey said.
"The crops are probably a little bit smaller than we'd hoped for at this stage."
Patchy germination has made things worse, particularly for her canola.
"I just looked at some photos of canola this time last year and it was far more advanced than it is this year."
Despite the dry start and grim outlook, Ms Godfrey remains hopeful.
"We're in a pretty reliable area here in Cunderdin, so I think the rain will come eventually," she said.
Last month, four cold fronts swept over the south west of WA, bringing bursts of cold and wet weather to large parts.
The South West district received the bulk of it, with some towns recording higher than average rainfall totals for June.
Witchcliffe West topped the charts with 277.8mm, followed by Jarrahwood which picked up more than 200mm and Bunbury at 190mm.
The heavy rain extended up the west coast, with Geraldton Airport collecting a decent 135mm.
Perth also got a good dose of rainfall across June, but due to the metro rain gauge suffering technical difficulties, the closest estimate to the city's monthly total would be Perth Airport's 153.8mm.
But due to those cold fronts weakening quickly and a lack of support from north-west cloud bands, areas further inland that were desperate for a drink missed out.
Across the Wheatbelt and Great Southern, most places only received about 50 to 60 per cent of their normal June rainfall.
Cunderdin Airport received 26.8mm while York picked up just over 21mm.
Ms Godfrey said that was not nearly enough to set crops up for a successful season.
"There's a bit of moisture in the ground now which is helping but it just means that the crops are pretty late this year, and the season will probably be a shorter growing season unfortunately," she said.
"I think we would have hoped to have had a good 100mm by now, but another 50 to 100mm in the next month would be great."
But not all farmers were in the same boat.
At Tenterden, 328 kilometres south-east of Perth, Michael Webster's seeding program was progressing well due to early rains and good soil moisture.
"We've had a great start to our season so far," he said.
"We have had 234mm since January with 64mm over June — so it's still got a way to go, but very, very grateful for what we've had so far."
Mr Webster said this season was already tracking better than last.
"The canola is particularly good, growth rates have been pretty phenomenal," he said.
But he knows other farmers haven't been as fortunate.
"You don't have to drive too far for guys who have missed out on a lot of the April, May or June rain," Mr Webster said.
"We're in a little bit of a bubble here but it's definitely a different story for a lot of people."
York-based agronomist Michael Lamond agreed the season had started well for southern WA, but said crucial follow-up rain had instead been falling further north.
"It's only been just enough to keep things ticking over and so we're sort of in quite a desperate need of rain now," he said.
"It's also been a very cold winter so far, so the crops have sort of really hit the brakes and they've slowed down, and they're sort of saying look we need a drink."
WA's grain growers delivered their third-largest harvest on record last year, following record-breaking seasons in 2021 and 2022.
Mr Lamond, who authors the Grain Industry Association of WA's crop report, said for most farmers this season was shaping out to mirror 2023, a colder season that produced only 14.5 million tonnes.
"There was that optimism at the start, and now everyone's wondering how things are going to go from now on," he said.
"If we don't get rain soon, like essentially next week or the week after, we'll run out of time for the crops to finish in the spring when the heat comes so I'd say it's becoming quite desperate."
While a cold front overnight and another on Sunday are expected to deliver some light falls to agricultural areas, the Bureau of Meteorology's forecast shows it won't be answering any prayers.
"The fronts are more likely to bring around 10-20mm instead of those upper end type rainfall figures," senior meteorologist Joey Rawson said.
The bureau's July outlook suggests farmers may have to wait a little longer.
"We can expect less rainfall and warmer conditions than normal," Dr Rawson said.
"But hopefully when we get to August, things will turn around, and we'll start seeing wetter conditions, and also more normal temperatures."