Recent heavy rain fall in southern New South Wales will not be enough to break the drought in the state’s only two affected regions.
According to the Department of Primary Industries (DPI), more than a third of the Cootamundra-Gundagai area is in drought, as is 10 per cent of the Snowy Valleys.
Tumut dairy farmer Kevin Malone said the past eight months had been tough on his business.
Dairy farmer Kevin Malone says dry conditions in autumn have affected business operations. (ABC Riverina: Rachel Holdsworth)
He said pasture growth on his property was down 25 per cent compared to the previous year, and he had been forced to de-stock cattle.
“We’ve struggled quite a bit,” Mr Malone said.
“Things were looking extremely bleak until probably about six weeks ago or so.”
Cootamundra-Gundagai and Snowy Valleys have received 25-100 millimetres of rain over the past month, which has been a major relief.
“Certainly for us it’s welcomed. Most of our property is river flat and still has green grass on it and will continue to grow,” Mr Malone said.
But DPI agricultural climatologist Anthony Clark said the area would need a lot more rain to catch up with the rest of the state.
Low soil moisture around Cootamundra-Gundagai and the Snowy Valleys areas has meant less pasture for livestock. (ABC Riverina: Rachel Holdsworth)
“We could get two or three, four weeks out of [the rain] and then things could quickly turn to being quite dry again,” he said.
“We are not completely out of danger as far as drought goes in that part of the world.”
Summer rain
Gundagai cattle farmer Sam Lucas said hot and dry conditions had ramped up over autumn.
The warm conditions had resulted in a lack of pasture on the ground, forcing him to hand-feed cattle for several months.
“Ideally you don’t want to be feeding cows and calves,” Mr Lucas said.
Cattle farmer Sam Lucas is hoping Gundagai will receive more summer rain. (ABC Riverina: Rachel Holdsworth)
He said several dams on the property were still dry.
“If we could fill up some of those catchments it would be good, just in the hilly country,” Mr Lucas said.
Prolonged drought
Dr Clark said the reason the two areas had not recovered from the prolonged drought was because of low soil moisture.
“We really saw a soil moisture deficit in the Snowy Valleys coming off summer this year,” he said.
Dr Clark said the rest of state generally had high levels of moisture in the system.
Soil moisture is the amount of water in the active layer of the soil, typically in the top 10 centimetres.
It is the main source of water for agriculture and natural vegetation, and low levels affect the growth and yield of crops.
Dr Clark said while the recent rain was good news, dry conditions could return in just a few weeks.
“It hasn’t been an intense event. It’s been a mild drought but starting to get prolonged, so it’s certainly a concern,” he said.
