JUST when residents of Tamworth and surrounding areas had started to believe it would never rain, the skies opened up.
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Steady falls across Saturday afternoon and yesterday were the first significant rain in the region since early February and were welcomed across the region.
But the downpours are expected to be short-lived, disappointing local farmers who “need a lot more”, and graziers facing a “long, hard winter”.
While Tamworth and Quirindi recorded falls of more than 28mm each, with Gunnedah recording about 25mm, Narrabri about 15mm and Barraba 11mm, on Saturday, the story was a lot drier for Moree and Inverell. Both towns recorded less than 2mm across the weekend.
Armidale welcomed 8.6mm, and Glen Innes 3mm, both from yesterday.
The wet weather meant the Great Nundle Dog Race, due to be run yesterday, had to be postponed until May 15, and the third day of the 18th Quirindi rally was cancelled.
Quirindi agronomist Pete McKenzie, from AgVance, said the rain was welcome, but they needed “a lot more”.
“Anybody who has dry-sown oats, or any winter forage, it should bring that up – it’s only eight weeks late,” he said.
“The last decent falls we had were in the first week in February, so we’ve nearly gone three months without decent rain.”
Mr McKenzie said the weekend’s falls should be enough to get farmers who want to plant canola going – and, in the middle of this month, they can start planning early-season wheat.
“They can get that started,” he said.
“There is a detriment to those who haven’t finished harvesting and picking, but everybody was looking for (rain). It’s a good start. Hopefully, the ground is still warm, so the feed gets away, and we get follow-up rain.”
For graziers, though, Mr McKenzie said it would be a “long, hard winter”.
“For people with cattle, it doesn’t rain grass, though,” he said.
“We will be tight on feed all the way. With winter forage, we should have cattle on them now, so we are eight weeks behind, if not more.”
The Northern Tablelands can expect some areas of morning fog today, with a 60 per cent chance of showers and a thunderstorm towards the afternoon and evening.
Tomorrow, the chance of showers drops to 40 per cent in the morning, and Wednesday should be mostly sunny.