Thanks to photographer extraordinaire Rob Leeson for this great photo of Newstead farmer Tony Butler, and Kelpie Mac, in a paddock of wheat. In recent weeks, the local region has received around 40mm of rain, and this has been a bonus for farmers.

Once you drive out to the big skies and rolling landscapes of the Moolort Plains, it’s dry farming all the way to the Wimmera – endless paddocks of crops and livestock.

With a dry spring forecast, that means that there is a risk of crop-damaging frosts. Rain that arrives at the wrong time can also be a threat to the harvest.

While grain prices are good, production prices have risen. So here’s hoping, for Tony Butler and other farmers across the region, that the weather gods are smiling in the coming month or two. 

This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 27 October 2023.