THE drought may be over in some parts of the Central Tablelands but graziers say it is not time to celebrate yet.
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New data shows that 5.1 per cent of the region is no longer in drought, with the good news impacting much of the Bathurst and Lithgow government areas.
Superfine merino grazier Michael Inwood said while his property had received good rainfall in recent months, many other parts of the region had not.
"We have been lucky here, but you don't have to go too far south or west of Bathurst and it's a very different story," he said.
"Lets hope we're the first to get out of the drought and the rest of the state follows."
The drought has forced the Inwood family to destock dramatically during the past 18 months as their property in the north-east of the Bathurst region dried out.
"At the moment we are running about 5000 sheep which is about 30 per cent of what we normally run," he said.
"We're just down to our core breeders and their lambs from last year."
However, with autumn now well underway Mr Inwood said he was feeling positive for the future.
"At the moment it's green and the soil is damp, but we need follow up rain and a mild autumn. That'd be great," he said.
"I'm hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst."
Merino sheep and Angus cattle grazier Dan Owens is another farmer who has felt the pinch of the drought during the past two years and has also destocked significantly.
We have been lucky here, but you don't have to go too far south or west of Bathurst and it's a very different story.
- Grazier Michael Inwood
While his property at The Lagoon might have a tinge of green right now thanks to 70 millimetres of rain in the past two weeks, he is concerned that nearby Chifley Dam has fallen to 45.5 per cent.
Mr Owens is currently midway through shearing his flock and said that recent weather and the end of the drought was good news for his property.
"We're feeling positive heading into winter - prices for lamb and wool are good and prices for cattle have improved the past few weeks," he said.
Mr Inwood said preparation ahead of the drought and paddock management during the dry times were vital to ensure pastures were give time to recover from stock feeding.
"We fed early and longer than what we needed to to allow the paddocks to rest," he said.
"What you need to do is look after your paddocks and everything else will follow on after that.
"A base paddock is going to take significantly longer to recover."
Mr Inwood may have had 300 tonnes of grain in stock when the drought started, but since then he has purchased 10 b-double loads (another 300 tonne) at a cost of $150,000 to keep his hungry stock alive.
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