It has been a record dry Autumn and South Australian farmers have been out in the paddocks, working around the clock, sowing their crops into dry ground. Last week’s rainfall was the first of the cropping season, and while it has renewed optimism, farmers are hoping for more rain to boost growth.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Getting the crops in the ground.
00:04On the York Peninsula, the Kenny family have been tackling this year's seeding during the
00:08driest autumn on record.
00:09Normally we're quite happy to dry sow our entire program, but this year we've been really
00:15apprehensive just because of how incredibly dry it is.
00:19It's been particularly hard on equipment, like this broken machinery.
00:24It's stalled seeding, but farming communities have come together to help each other out.
00:28So people have pulled their resources and shared things around to keep the wheels rolling
00:33and we pay it back when we can.
00:37Down the road at the Litsters Karamulka Farm, 12mm of rain fell on their recently seeded
00:42crops at the end of last week, but they're hoping for more.
00:46We desperately need some rain to get the crop up and going.
00:49While last week's rains were widely welcomed by crop growers, they'll need more to secure
00:53germination and ultimately healthy yields.
00:56But they may have to wait a little bit longer, as the Bureau of Meteorology says farmers
01:00can expect average rainfall, but not until later in the winter.
01:04The rainfall outlook for June is below average for much of the agricultural areas.
01:10During July and August, this does increase back to average.
01:15In the meantime, farmers will be closely monitoring their rain gauges.
01:18Bring the rain on, just need the rain.