{"id":681744,"date":"2026-05-19T22:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/681744\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T22:56:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:56:16","slug":"rainfall-across-sa-drought-areas-gives-farmers-hope-as-green-shoots-sprout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/681744\/","title":{"rendered":"Rainfall across SA drought areas gives farmers hope as green shoots sprout"},"content":{"rendered":"

In paddocks that were dry and patchy 12 months ago, green shoots of hope are sprouting after “decent and meaningful” rainfall across parts of South Australia.<\/p>\n

Sam May is a fifth-generation farmer whose family grows a mix of wheat, barley and lentils at Pata in the state’s Mallee region, typically a low-rainfall area.<\/p>\n

Last growing season, after a couple of tough years of drought, he scaled back their farming operations and reduced fertiliser inputs.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sam May is relieved to see “meaningful” rain on his farm after years of drought. (ABC Rural: Eliza Berlage)<\/p>\n

“We went in fairly confident last year that it was going to rain \u2026 [but it] didn’t turn out unfortunately, so we pulled back a little bit, but not as much as we really should have,” he said.<\/p>\n

But after 230 millimetres of rain since January this year, including 40mm last weekend, Mr May was feeling optimistic about the season ahead.<\/p>\n

It is already more than double what his property received last year, when he recorded less than 100mm.<\/p>\n

In early March, he was shocked to find a flood on his home property after 135mm of rain fell over two days, with 90mm falling in just two hours.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sam May says the water in the paddocks was “chest deep” after flash flooding in March. (Supplied: Sam May)<\/p>\n

“None of my parents or grandparents have seen a [flash] flood like that,” Mr May said.<\/p>\n

“I don’t remember the last time we had meaningful rain [before then], so it definitely boosted the confidence with going ahead and planting this year.<\/p>\n

“We’re not out of the woods yet, but hopefully we can have a decent season and just get some at least average rainfall from now until harvest.”<\/p>\n

More rain needed<\/p>\n

About 60 kilometres north in Wonuarra, near Paringa, fifth-generation farmer Lia Rover and her family grow vetch to feed their cattle.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Lia Rover started running cattle in 2022 just as the dry years hit her farm in South Australia’s Riverland region. (ABC Rural: Eliza Berlage)<\/p>\n

The cattle have become one of the most valuable commodities in their mixed farming operation.<\/p>\n

While the farm has received about 155mm of rain so far this year and there was greenery around, she said conditions were still tough after several years of drought.<\/p>\n

“Any [shoots] under 10 centimetres really isn’t beneficial for stock [because] there’s no protein in it, it’s just more water,” Ms Rover said.<\/p>\n

“When stuff starts to get a foot tall, that’s where all your nutrition is, and that’s the benefit.”<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

Lia Rover says her family has returned to seeding in recent years after a break. (ABC Rural: Eliza Berlage)<\/p>\n

The ongoing drought led to issues with sand drift, with the family spending precious time and money grading and re-grading the soil every time a big wind blew.<\/p>\n

“All our sandy hills look more like the moon than a hill, they’re that bumpy,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Rover said locusts had also become a problem in recent months<\/a>, with more than 200 hectares of crops intended for feed eaten by the pests within a week.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

As well as breeding cattle, Lia Rover occasionally fattens lambs, but the family stopped running sheep due to the drought. (ABC Rural: Eliza Berlage)<\/p>\n

“My top farm, you would think I’m breeding them, they are everywhere, it might as well be snowing grasshoppers,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Our bottom farm’s not as bad, but I think because it’s just dirt out there.”<\/p>\n

Cautiously optimistic<\/p>\n

Brian Lynch, senior agronomist at Elders Loxton, said more rain fell in his town from January to mid-May this year, compared with all of 2025.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Brian Lynch hopes the next couple of years will continue to bring rain. (ABC Rural: Eliza Berlage)<\/p>\n

“Last year, a lot of people stopped sowing halfway through, or they abandoned those more high-risk crops like lentils and chickpeas,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had enough [rain] already \u2026 for people to actually commit to those [crops] this year.<\/p>\n

“Once you’ve got the rain, all options are open to you.”<\/p>\n

Mr Lynch said farmers were keeping an eye on the low-level locust migration<\/a> detected in the Riverland and Mallee.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

Farmers are cautiously optimistic after decent rainfall across parts of South Australia. (ABC Rural: Eliza Berlage)<\/p>\n

But he said things were faring better than in other farming regions, which had been inundated with mice<\/a> and slugs.<\/p>\n

“It looks like there is some low-level [locust] egg laying going on, so we’re going to have to monitor that into springtime,” Mr Lynch said.<\/p>\n

Back among the cattle, Ms Rover was feeling committed to her farming future, with reinvigorated energy after the rain.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Lia Rover says while the work comes with a lot of pressure, she is passionate about continuing to farm for future generations. (ABC Rural: Eliza Berlage)<\/p>\n

“I’ve only ever wanted to be a farmer,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I don’t want to walk away from it, so you’ve got to do everything you can to stay in the industry.”<\/p>\n

More news from regional SA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In paddocks that were dry and patchy 12 months ago, green shoots of hope are sprouting after “decent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,13331,4358,31367,25980,77403,6880,15157,6878,269427],"class_list":["post-681744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-cattle","tag-drought","tag-farm","tag-farmer","tag-grain","tag-mallee","tag-rain","tag-riverland","tag-seeding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}