{"id":316768,"date":"2026-03-06T23:41:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T23:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/316768\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T23:41:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T23:41:21","slug":"record-breaking-rainfall-has-inundated-south-australias-worst-hit-regions-but-is-this-the-end-of-the-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/316768\/","title":{"rendered":"Record-breaking rainfall has inundated South Australia’s worst-hit regions, but is this the end of the drought?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Isabella Kelly, ABC<\/p>\n

\"Fifth-generation<\/p>\n

\nFifth-generation farmer Ian Ellery has tentatively welcomed what could be the end of dry conditions.
\nPhoto: ABC\/Isabella Kelly\n<\/p>\n

When farmers had to dry seed after one of the driest starts to the year on record in 2024, they had no idea what was to come.<\/p>\n

Now, after two years, and the worst conditions many landholders have ever seen, rain has fallen.<\/p>\n

Just outside the Mid North town of Orroroo, which has been one of the worst hit by dry conditions, sits a tiny town called Morchard, with a population of 12.<\/p>\n

Nearly 20 kilometres out of Morchard is the Ellery family farm, with fifth-generation farmer Ian Ellery at its helm.<\/p>\n

He said the last few years have been the driest he can recall.<\/p>\n

“[Drought] creeps up on you slowly,” Ellery said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\nThe red-coloured dirt of the land near Orroroo.
\nPhoto: ABC\/Che Chorley\n<\/p>\n

“It’s just another management situation, whether you’re dealing with the way you’re going to feed your livestock or how you make your cropping decisions.<\/p>\n

“It’s not until the drought finishes that you’re starting to relax a bit more, and you realise that the pressure has built up on people.”<\/p>\n

Last year, the Ellery farm had 200 millimetres of rain – about two-thirds of its annual average.<\/p>\n

Last fortnight, it had 150mm.<\/p>\n

“One rain [event] doesn’t make a season, we all know that… but boy it’s a great start,” Ellery said.<\/p>\n

So, does that mean the drought is over?<\/p>\n

“We’ve given it a real good kick, haven’t we?” Ellery said.<\/p>\n

“Thinking with my grazier’s hat on, I think, ‘Yes, it is,’ because we won’t be going into hand feeding now.<\/p>\n

“For our particular area, yes, I would say it’s probably the finish of the dry period, of the drought.”<\/p>\n

But as for what the rest of the season brings, he says only time will tell.<\/p>\n

No such thing as an official drought declaration<\/p>\n

As the government repeatedly drew attention to at the beginning of the dry conditions, there is no such thing as an official declaration of drought anymore.<\/p>\n

But that means there is also nothing official to tell us when it is over. So, are we allowed to call it yet?<\/p>\n

Grain Producers SA (GPSA) chief executive Brad Perry says yes, and no.<\/p>\n

\"Brad<\/p>\n

\nBrad Perry said there were still pockets and regions across the state that missed the rain.
\nPhoto: ABC\/Marco Catalano\n<\/p>\n

“Defining drought is challenging in many ways, but generally it’s below average rainfall and below average yields over multiple years,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Many areas of the state, you would say, are no longer in drought.”<\/p>\n

There is a caveat, of course.<\/p>\n

“There are certainly pockets and regions across the state that are still in drought,” Perry said.<\/p>\n

“These recent rains… didn’t reach every single area of the state. So those that got it, I think they’re really, really happy and positive that they’re going to have some soil moisture coming into seeding.<\/p>\n

“But for those who missed out, I think it really hurt.”<\/p>\n

\"While<\/p>\n

\nWhile the Bureau of Meteorology total in Orroroo for the seven days to March 4 was 94mm, landholders recorded up to 150mm.
\nPhoto: ABC\/Isabella Kelly\n<\/p>\n

In parts of the Riverland, 117mm of rain fell over 24 hours last week. At Wudinna, it was 152mm. Even the outback town of Yunta felt 142mm.<\/p>\n

Farmers are not out of the woods yet, though.<\/p>\n

“It’ll probably give us our best start in two or three years, there is no doubt about that,” Perry said.<\/p>\n

“But we also know that there is still a long way to go in a growing season – we haven’t even got to seeding yet.”<\/p>\n

Farmers will still need support<\/p>\n

Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven, who has previously said the drought was officially confirmed by the state government in November 2024 with the announcement of a drought support package, said no matter what, farmers would still need support for some time.<\/p>\n

“Just because it has rained, the drought is not over, and the impacts of the drought are not over,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Clare<\/p>\n

\nClare Scriven said farmers will continue to need support even if drought times are over.
\nPhoto: ABC\/Eliza Berlage\n<\/p>\n

“The impacts will continue for a long time, and it’s important that we know that in terms of supporting our primary producers, and also in terms of any impacts that we might see at the check-out.”<\/p>\n

GPSA is expecting the drought “hangover” to last for up to five years.<\/p>\n

“After a couple of the toughest years in some of those cropping regions in the state’s history, one rain [event] just doesn’t fix everything,” Perry said.<\/p>\n

“Whether that comes to cash flow challenges, whether that comes to being able to employ workers again.<\/p>\n

“The really big challenge is over those drought years, a lot of farmers weren’t able to sow full crops, so their income was reduced based on that.<\/p>\n

“There’s some tough conversations that are being had with banks at the moment as farmers go through bank reviews.”<\/p>\n

For now, though, farmers like Ellery are soaking in the once-in-a-generation rain.<\/p>\n

“Once you get that rain, you get that break in the season, and you realise that there could be a good future coming,” Ellery said.<\/p>\n

“I think we’re off to a good start.”<\/p>\n

– ABC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Isabella Kelly, ABC Fifth-generation farmer Ian Ellery has tentatively welcomed what could be the end of dry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[48,47,273,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-316768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-podcasts","16":"tag-public-radio","17":"tag-radio-new-zealand","18":"tag-rnz","19":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}