AUSTRALIA 
Time 'running out for winter crops'
Monday, 12 May, 2008
No rain on the radar ...Farmers are bracing themselves for more hard times. (Getty Images) (AAP)
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Hopes for a bumper winter crop are fading, as more areas of Australia slide back into drought.
The latest figures show that nearly half of New South Wales, has again been drought-declared.
Farmers are bracing themselves for more hard times, with warnings that food prices across the country could also rise.
At this time of year, Peter Cannon, is usually planting wheat. But with little rain in three months, he's playing the waiting game.
"We're in the ideal window now, we've got reasonable subsoil moisture but we haven't got that surface moisture to sow into, the problem we've got, we've got very high costs, production costs as in fertiliser, chemical, seed requirements," he said.
Fuel costs have also soared, increasing the risks, if Mr Cannon doesn't get the best potential yield, which fades with every passing day.
Further north, Keith Perrett, says many farmers are considering dry sowing - planting now and hoping the rains will come.
But he says the stakes are high.
"If you get a very light fall which will germinate some or all of the grain and you don't get follow-up rain very quickly. Then those plants will die and you've put out more money for no return".
Some Queensland farmers have already missed the opportunity to sow wheat.
New South Wales figures show that 48-percent of the state is now in drought - up from 43-percent last month.
It's better than 83-percent last year - but the Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald predicts meat and poultry prices will rise.
"The state's farmers are bracing themselves for another horror autumn, with almost half of NSW now drought declared," Mr Macdonald said in a statement.
The Bureau of Meteorology says most of Australia has again dried out, except around Perth.
But there's some good news - with above average rainfall expected in northern and eastern Australia.
"As you move further south not such a clear story with rainfall, probably close to average but of course, because it's been so dry over the last couple of months, average rainfall won't be enough to fill things like dams and so on," David Jones from the National Climate Centre said.
Peter Cannon says filling the dams alone is not enough - he needs a wet topsoil on the paddocks to grow a crop.
Source: SBS
The latest figures show that nearly half of New South Wales, has again been drought-declared.
Farmers are bracing themselves for more hard times, with warnings that food prices across the country could also rise.
At this time of year, Peter Cannon, is usually planting wheat. But with little rain in three months, he's playing the waiting game.
"We're in the ideal window now, we've got reasonable subsoil moisture but we haven't got that surface moisture to sow into, the problem we've got, we've got very high costs, production costs as in fertiliser, chemical, seed requirements," he said.
Fuel costs have also soared, increasing the risks, if Mr Cannon doesn't get the best potential yield, which fades with every passing day.
Further north, Keith Perrett, says many farmers are considering dry sowing - planting now and hoping the rains will come.
But he says the stakes are high.
"If you get a very light fall which will germinate some or all of the grain and you don't get follow-up rain very quickly. Then those plants will die and you've put out more money for no return".
Some Queensland farmers have already missed the opportunity to sow wheat.
New South Wales figures show that 48-percent of the state is now in drought - up from 43-percent last month.
It's better than 83-percent last year - but the Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald predicts meat and poultry prices will rise.
"The state's farmers are bracing themselves for another horror autumn, with almost half of NSW now drought declared," Mr Macdonald said in a statement.
The Bureau of Meteorology says most of Australia has again dried out, except around Perth.
But there's some good news - with above average rainfall expected in northern and eastern Australia.
"As you move further south not such a clear story with rainfall, probably close to average but of course, because it's been so dry over the last couple of months, average rainfall won't be enough to fill things like dams and so on," David Jones from the National Climate Centre said.
Peter Cannon says filling the dams alone is not enough - he needs a wet topsoil on the paddocks to grow a crop.
Source: SBS
