Farmers near Geraldton are rejoicing after more than 100mm of rain fell on paddocks after months of dry and difficult conditions.
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00:00 From dust to mud. On the northern tip of the WA Grain Belt, Damien Harris recorded more
00:08 rain in 24 hours on Saturday than he did for the entire year last year.
00:14 It was a bit of disbelief really. I was in Geraldton and getting phone calls saying the
00:19 rain's coming and it's quite heavy and there's nothing here, we'll check it tomorrow and
00:24 you know it's just incredible.
00:26 Harris received almost 160mm so far and is now well set up for the season ahead. A relief
00:34 after last year where some paddocks weren't worth even harvesting.
00:38 A lot of us can remember the last droughts and there was two in a row and we didn't want
00:42 that again. I don't think we could financially survive at this time.
00:45 Near Geraldton, Ben Royce is preparing to seed his last paddock after tipping 100mm
00:52 from his rain gauge. He's planted a large hay crop this season as the state remains
00:58 desperately short of livestock fodder.
01:01 The hay isn't here this year and hopefully this year will be different this season coming.
01:05 Our hay crop's looking really good already which is promising. The demand is out of control
01:11 this season.
01:12 Rivers are flowing and some roads in the midwest are closed due to flooding.
01:18 While they're celebrating in the north, the rain did not reach farmers in the great southern.
01:23 Some are still waiting and hoping for their season to break.
01:27 [BLANK_AUDIO]