An average break and good follow-up rains throughout this month have provided an excellent start to the season in the Wimmera and surrounds. 

If you could dial in rain events for the beginning of a season, what we have been delivered has generally been made to order, and with crops, along with stock-feed,  bolting out of the ground, it has provided a welcome distraction from the seemingly endless doom cycle of events ever present in the news, both domestically and internationally.

With talk of a Super El Niño forming by the end of winter – you can’t just call things what they are without a superlative anymore – the majority of growers have been motivated to finish seeding as quickly as possible, wary of sowing into half-half moisture, but with the knowledge there is a good level of subsoil there and rain of any sort would help get things underway. 

As a result, many large-scale operators have already finished their seeding programs and with persistent, mild conditions along with the absence of frosts, things are growing, and growing fast. 

Livestock are also benefiting from a green pick, with new-season lambs starting to hit the ground in increasing numbers.

Outstanding scanning percentages have flocks poised for success, however good levels of feed are required to maintain survival and growth rates of young stock. 

With rain injecting a level of confidence into the season, breeding ewes, particularly SIL, continue to attract high levels of support, with most stock in this class selling anywhere from $300-$450 per head.

It is understandable that a level of scepticism might exist around a prediction from the Bureau of Meteorology given its recent track record. 

Predictions for the east coast of Australia cover a lot of area and what can be right for some can be totally wrong for others. 

It begs the question, how strongly do east-coast predictions correlate to what is actually happening on the ground in western Victoria? 

Time always reveals the answer, and someone will inevitably be right.

However in the end, it probably pays to back your own judgement and stick to a program you think will work, whether that be hanging off every word from the latest internationally renowned forecaster, tuning in to the local elder statesperson with a stick who has an aching left knee, pointing towards the running spring on the side of a hill, or the number of ducks congregating on dams.

The entire May 27, 2026 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!

The entire May 27, 2026 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!