Send 'er down, Hughie!
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![SKY FALL: Winter croppers hope storms deliver the predicted heavy dumps across the region on Saturday. SKY FALL: Winter croppers hope storms deliver the predicted heavy dumps across the region on Saturday.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Fn6pLqa34xKvXz2W5RXLbX/d17c2e44-4276-431c-b251-3473db7485a9.jpg/r0_351_960_892_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Forecast falls of up to 40mm on Saturday provide the last chance for farmers to salvage winter cereal crops.
As drought and the El Nino take hold across northern Australia and western Victoria, decision time had arrived for southern Riverina and North East farmers.
“The Southern Oscillation Index is still very much in the negative, which is not a good sign,” NSW Farmers president Derek Schoen, of Corowa, said earlier this week.
“Farmers have only got a week or so … decisions on hay have to be made soon.”
Canola windrowing was expected to begin this coming week, with harvest usually starting around the middle of November.
While dryland farmers face a bleak summer and autumn if weekend storms do not deliver, Goulburn Murray Water (GMW) said storages were holding up well.
“Given conditions we’ve been experiencing it’s fair to say Dartmouth and Hume are pretty well off,” GMW resource manager Mark Bailey said, “Dart’s at 61 per cent and Hume’s 45.
“We’re currently tracking to make 100 per cent of water shares available.”
Retailer North East Water said Goorambat was the only town facing restrictions towards the end of summer.
“Larger centres like Wodonga, Wangaratta and Benalla are looking good despite the expectation of dry conditions and high temperatures,” North East Water managing director Craig Heiner said.
“Our Murray River towns are on an 82 per cent allocation, so we are very comfortable that there won't need to be restrictions this year.”