General News
6 July, 2026
Winter Wet
FARM paddocks have become sheets of water of more 50mm of rain fell across the Loddon to usher in the start of winter yesterday.
FARM paddocks have become sheets of water of more 50mm of rain fell across the Loddon to usher in the start of winter yesterday.
Powlett’s Aaron Lock said: “Water’s running everywhere. I had to walk across the paddock to calves, it was too wet to drive the ute - there was a foot of water laying over some paddocks..”
The Loddon River levels were steady on Tuesday although water was running across some roads.
Mr Lock echoed the positive assessment of Mincha farmer Steve Mann who said he had never seen such a strong start to a season in decades of farming.
“We’ve had a fantastic start to the season for our barley, oats and vetch and lambing percentages were 115 per cent compared with around 70 last season thanks to good early joining, feed when they hit the ground and warm temperatures,” Mr Lock said
“It’s been one of the best starts and we already had good soil moisture before this rain and they are saying more is to come.
“This will slow down crop growth a bit. We hardly needed more rain.”
Mr Lock runs Merino and Suffolk sheep on his farm,
Near Serpentine, Willera Merino’s Simon Coutts said more rain this week would make paddocks very soggy.
“We’ll be doing a few of the undercover jobs around the property this week,” he said.
Mr Lock said he had recorded more than 240mm of rain so far this year. “In the dry years we would have been lucky to get that much in 12 months.”
Read More: Loddon Shire