![Peter Turner's sorghum crop at Wyreema on Queensland's Darling Downs is looking a picture after the recent rain. Photo by Peter Wilson. Peter Turner's sorghum crop at Wyreema on Queensland's Darling Downs is looking a picture after the recent rain. Photo by Peter Wilson.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/5Q2j7ezUfQBfUJsaqK3gfB/091b73e0-25b8-482e-b865-939c58238b3a.jpg/r0_110_1179_773_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Heavy rain over Queensland and parts of northern NSW continued to shore up the prospects of a strong summer crop - a distant possibility at the start of the season when croppers were facing low subsoil moisture levels and forecasts of a hot and dry summer.
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The northern Darling Downs and far south-west Queensland led the way, with widespread totals between 100 and 150mm grading up to 200-250mm in districts around Macalister and Jimbour, while closer to the NSW border St George and Moonie both had well over 100mm.
AgForce grains president and Warra farmer Brendan Taylor said there had been some minor flood damage but added the good far outweighed the bad.
"It's very damp now, we were fairly marginal early in the summer crop season, but since the new year there has been some really good rain and this will kick things along nicely with a lot of sorghum about to push out a head."
"There has been some minor flooding in towns like Warra and Jandowae, there is a bit of erosion and patches of paddocks washed out, but overall its very positive."
Mr Taylor said irrigators would be major beneficiaries.
"Getting the water running on the floodplain has meant irrigators will get the first chance to pump some water for 15 months and replenish their supplies, which they will be very happy about.'
Analyst Lloyd George, AgScientia, said the script had been flipped on its head in regards to summer crop production.
"Earlier in the season we saw ABARES (the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences) saying they did not expect a big plant due to concerns about the El Nino-induced dry, but I'd question the assumption now, it seems quite a bit of crop did go in later in the planting window."
"There was talk of a 25 to 30 per cent decrease in planting but I don't think it ended up anywhere near there."
"After the rain we've seen in many parts of Queensland and NSW at a critical time to boost the yields of those later-sown crops it's all now looking very healthy."
"Yield wise, it's difficult to describe it as anything else than fantastic, one grower told me the crop was growing like it was on steroids."
He said even in the areas that experienced minor flooding the sorghum was expected to be fine.
"Sorghum is a tough plant and will cope with wet feet for a day or two without a worry."
Mr Taylor said the pattern of the rain, which came and went quickly, also meant there was less likely of disease or damage.
"The quick, intense rain was followed by a clearing pattern virtually straight away, which is good for sorghum, but even more so for cotton, which does not like cool and cloudy weather for too long."
John Woods, farmer on the NSW / Queensland border near Goondiwindi and chairman of the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) said farmers in his area were pleased with falls between 40-60mm.
"It was a bit lighter than other areas, which means we have definitely escaped damage and the crop at this stage of the season will just soak it all up."
He said there were some concerns about a late planting during the hot period in November, however belief in the improved heat tolerance of new sorghum varieties had paid off.
"It was probably a bit of a gamble with the planting but things have worked out very well and we'd be sitting on above average yield potential now."
Mr George said the size of the crop would mean a good portion of the product would have to be exported.
"In recent years there has been less domestic demand from feedlotters, there are still some buyers, but at current values a lot should make its way once again into China and Japan for livestock industries there."
"The prices, in line with the entire grains complex, are back in recent months but they are generally still quite reasonable in a historic context."
Mr Taylor said farmers in his area could target yields of up to 7 tonnes a hectare, with widespread 5-7t/ha yields.
"I think if we'd been offered this result in November we definitely would have signed up."
He said the boost to subsoil moisture reserves would also have a beneficial impact on the upcoming winter plant.