Since we have owned the block (July 2003) the great majority of the seasons have experienced below average (or considerably below average) rainfall. The last two Autumns, for example, rank as the driest Autumns on record for this part of the Murray Darling Basin. This continues. For example:
December 2007 recorded 41mm; but in 2008 (to date) we have had
o 24mm in January;
o 0 mm in February;
o 4.4 mm in March;
o 2.8 mm in April and
o 20 mm in May
- 11 mm in June (Swan Hill). Cartwheel Bend had more.
- 36 mm in July (Swan Hill). 31 mm at Cartwheel.
26 mm was registered by Gordon on 8th and 9th of June - at this time Wyche only had 7-9 mm.
31mm through July In the three days after Sunday July 13th, the block had about 10 mm; but at this stage the block still looked as dry as summer. No green pick; Gordon and Eirlys had old ewes lambing next door and they had no green feed - Gordon was feeding out some hay. It appeared (on July 13th) that our direct drilled trees were still surviving in some spots.
On July 20th a further 8 mm fell and Gordon is confident he will see some feed for his ewes in a couple of weeks. In total Gordon finished July with 31 mm
As July closed, the Wakool was very low, at the summer levels of November 2007. So, the bend will have a lot of bare ground. Before this summer, without very significant rain, we will expect that the river returns to pools. Goulburn Murray Water have already said that the Wakool and Edward Rivers may have to be closed down in order to save water for Adelaide. So, the hope is for significant rains!
Dryish August. August was about 28 mm -- started with 15mm, until August 30th where another 13 mm fell.
I spoke to Gordon on August 2nd. There is a green pick on the native grasses, but nothing is getting away on the irrigated country. He said that the kangaroos are in big numbers and attacking Duries crops a bit. He may call in the roo shooter again.
On August 10th talked to Gordon. The last week had seen 10 mm of rain, in two falls and then on Saturday evening 9th, another 5 mm. It is green at a distance, but there are plenty of bare patches when you look closely. The sheep are eating the canola hay, but are still carrying lambs and are hungry. There is only a real pick in those paddocks that have been locked up. Because it was dry until the winter, and then July has been the coldest for 10 years (although spot on July's 100 year average temperature), the feed has not grown. In spots there is water lying about; the next month will see a bit of growth as daylengths extend and as it gets warmer. The rain needs to keep going, but with the rain of Saturday 9th August, spirits are higher.
Pat and Keith, Spud and Glenys had between 10-12 mm in this Saturday night rain...with the week ahead looking showery.
These conditions would be good, you would think, for the trees we sowed.
Don't know what conditions were like in Hawthorn Di and Hugh; but there was 20 mm in our rain gauge this morning. Hope your lambing ewes are OK.
August 22nd and 23rd I visited the block and things weren't looking that strong with respect to growth; bare batches everywhere. Not green at all (see the visit log under the Suzuki story) and some of the seeded trees from the sowing on July 23rd last year were looking "average". A bit blue, which is normally a water stress problem.
August 30th saw another 13.4 mm on the block and about the same at Wyche. I phoned Gordon at 1.30 pm on Sunday 31st and a fair downpour had just begun.....with no idea whether this would have much in it (ended up with 13.4mm). The roo shooter had come in midweek and taken 6 off Riverley, and 32 in total for the night. Normally they get $25-$35 per roo - exported for human consumption, Russia mainly.
Spring fails
November 6th. About 24 mm on the block. Rang Gordon and he was very pleased with the rain. A good, strong rain through the day. Should strike some of the native grasses for later in December. Gordon had a further 16 mm not long after
December 12th. I rang Eirlys during the week (December 10th?) and they had had 8.6 mm. I phoned December 12th and they had had 18.6 mm and it was still raining. The country had a green pick from the natives; this rain will really boost the existing growth. Will phone tomorrow (13th) to check ongoing rain.
December 13th - Gordon reported 40.4 mm in total for the past 24 hours. Very muddy and getting quite windy. He believes this should deliver good feed for a month on the native pastures. This would provide (as of the 13th) about 90 mm for November and December (over 3.5 inches). Last Christmas (about the 20th of Dec 2007) there was a 60 mm rain. So, it comes in big bits at times and mostly summer recently.
Break 2009
January and February had no rain at Swan Hill. March, April and May had 15 mm, 25mm and 10 mm respectively. It was very dry in the beginning of 2009
21 mm around end of April, then 53 mm in first week of June. The first significant rains came in late April, around Anzac Day. We had about 20-21 mm on the block and most people began to sow. It was a good early break but dissolved into a really dry May. 10.6 mm was the next rain in the last few days of May; followed by rain in the week beginning June 1st. As I type (June 1) it is raining from a high level Low system in the North. Swan Hill has had maybe 8 mm, and it will rain on and off for the week. I will ring Gordon to check the rain tomorrow night (2nd of June).
By the end of the week (June 7th) Gordon had recorded 52.6 mm. He said it was very wet and couldn't drive around in the paddocks, or easily feed out. A very good rain that should strike my remaining tree seeds (or a portion of them). Pat and Keith had about 45mm in the same rain.....at this state (Monday 8th June) it is a little drier but some more lows are coming through end of the week.
By the end of June rainfall had been around 64mm in Swan Hill.....well over average. Charlton had also recorded just over 60 mm for June.
The block had had this amount as well. Speaking to Gordon in the last week of June he said that the grass on lighter country had gotten away, but the heavier black country was taking a little longer to establish cover. Nevertheless, it was pretty moist and the light rains etc kept coming through. Weather conditions in the first week of July were also light rain, overcast and cool.
But July, August and most of September failed with 20-30 mm in each month. In the week leading up to the Grand Final, however, we had probably 36 mm which really helped. Gordon and Eirlys had just sown 60km of direct seeded trees and shrubs; the environmental flows for the Wakool had been released beginning September 15th. A lot of small white daisies around and Gordon said (after the rain) that the pasture was really starting to move. The crop on the sandhill coming in along ColensoPark Road was fantastic.
No comments:
Post a Comment