Albury-Wodonga received 17mm on Monday followed by a further 8mm on Wednesday.

It was still enough to surpass the January total of 22.4mm.

Walla agronomist Tim Paramore said any farmers with lucerne would benefit most from the limited rainfall.

“It will help the lucerne grow,” Mr Paramore said.

“It will also help any farmers that are furrowing paddocks and sow some early forage.

“They may not sow after this rain but will be hoping for some follow-up rain and that will be enough to sow on.

“It’s very early to sow, especially with the hot weather we have been experiencing.”

Mr Paramore said some farmers had received substantially more rain than the 25mm in Albury-Wodonga.

“I was talking to a farmer near Gerogery and he got 63mm,” he said.

“We got 27mm on one farm and 20mm on our home block. It will at least give us a bit of green pick for lambs.

“It will also help the cropping farmers who furrow and want the moisture to stop the dust.”

Mr Paramore said the summer rain could also trigger the growth of weeds.

“The negative for farmers is the rain may create another weed strike and they will have to spray again,” he said.

“It will be interesting to see what effect it does have.

“Some of the weeds that already exist, the rain helps them set seeds and be a bit of a pest.”

Mr Paramore said the quality of water in runoff dams could also be affected.

“The problem with storm-type rains is you get very heavy or intense rainfall for short periods and you can get a lot of soil and sheep dung that can be washed into the dam and become quite a problem,” he said.

“The stock can then refuse to drink the water.

“It’s also often difficult for the farmer to determine how toxic the water is and how to solve the problem.

“If the stock have eaten the paddocks bare, the heavy rainfall can push the topsoil around.

“Storms are not ideal but you just have to take it as it comes.”

Albury’s February average rainfall since 1994 is 46mm.

While Albury-Wodonga received 17mm on Monday, the rainfall was not widespread with Corowa recording only .6mm.

In contrast Corowa had 17.4 mm on Friday while no rain was recorded in Albury-Wodonga up until 2pm.

The total rainfall in February last year for Albury-Wodonga was 23.4mm.

February 2011 was the wettest with 267.4mm since 1994.