WHO would want to be a farmer? Residents across the Bathurst region had to endure a sweltering weekend with temperatures more like what we would expect during the summer months.
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The trouble for our rural community is that the season is declining at a rapid rate.
Pastures are going from green to a straw-like yellow, and with the expert weather forecasters predicting a 70 per cent of an El Nino, the outlook does not look rosy.
Bathurst is renowned as a region where primary producers are a vital part of the local economy, but when times are tough the flow-on effects can impact a raft of people and businesses.
While we all live in hope that the heavens will open and we do receive enough rainfall to keep dams topped up and help improve the feed situation for livestock, it seems many producers are already going into survival mode.
A good example is featured on the front page of today’s edition with well-known local farmer David Suttor from ‘Brucedale’ on the Sofala Road.
Because of the seasonal conditions, he decided to terminate a 250-acre wheat crop he’d planted earlier in the year. Mindful the grain he would harvest may not be top quality, Mr Suttor instead decided to make hay while the sun shines.
As a result he’s baled a staggering 1000 bales of wheaten hay from the crop and they make an impressive sight lined up row upon row on the crest of a hill at his farm.
There isn’t a local farmer who wouldn’t be envious of Mr Suttor’s position of strength going into a summer which is looking more of a worry as each searing day passes.
We need rain urgently, because you can’t run a herd or flock without life-giving water, and without it, there will most certainly be dire times not far down the track.
