After opting to not sow a crop last year, the Norris family at Rudall thought the worst of the bad seasons were behind them, but this year patchy crop emergence and a lack of rain has dampened hopes for a good result.
Only 80 per cent of their crop was sown between May 24 until June 16 and Brady Norris said, to-date, they had received less rain than the same time last year.
“Last year we did not sow a crop and we had more rain so there are some concerns about whether we will even reap a crop this year,” he said.
“The most rain we have received was 13.5 millimetres on January 30, after that it has been a couple of mm here and there.”
Some paddocks are at five or six leaf stage but Mr Norris said not even 30 centimetres away, crops were only just emerging.
The region is supposed to record a 340mm annual rainfall and father Daryl is “dead scared it will be another year without a crop”.
“It really depends on what rain we get between now and harvest,” Daryl said.
