Gunnedah farmers expecting good harvest after wet summer but concerns remain over mice and locusts

Keith Perrett, who owns properties near Gunnedah, has revealed the downpours have come at the right time for the agriculture sector.

More than 360mm has fallen since the beginning of December, which is a figure few could have imagined 18 months ago when the industry was struggling through one of the longest and most severe droughts on record.

However, last year the skies opened up and the lives of many who work on the land, especially in the eastern states, were made significantly easier and less stressful.

It delivered a bumper crop for many, with confidence within the agriculture community reaching levels not seen in more than a decade.

Mr Perrett revealed crops are flourishing around the region as a result of the timing and quantity of the rain.

"We're at the stage where the rain over the past few months has certainly helped the summer crops, so the sorghum, cotton, sunflowers and mung beans have benefited very much from the rainfall over the January-February-March period," he stated.

Over 200mm in 2021 at his property 'Dunmohr' has helped overcome what he admitted was a bit of a dry start to the season.

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Conditions since then have been so good, however, there is already an expectation the winter crop will be a success too.

"This has been very positive, the rain over the past two or three months, because what that has done is given us some good soil moisture so we can go into this winter crop with a bit of confidence," Mr Perrett said.

"In fact more confidence than what we had at the start of last winter crop because there is certainly a stronger profile than we had this time last year."

However, life is never plain and simple for farmers, and while crops are thriving in these conditions, so are mice and locusts.

While much has been written regarding the former of those - and with merit given they have destroyed up to 25 per cent of sorghum crops on some farms in the area - Mr Perrett believes the latter could cause serious headaches later in the year.

"There's been variant levels of mice population across the district but they have been bad in most areas unfortunately, and they're a worry for the winter crop," he said.

"If we don't have them under control they can just come along and chew the grain out of the ground unfortunately so that is a major worry.

"And for the locusts, they're probably not so big of an issue through the winter but during spring they can be a serious issue if they're not under control."