Patchy rain beneficial in some SA regions

"Considerations for early-sown crops has turned to maintaining high yield potential through nutrition and disease management, whereas the later crops are having weed control done, and early nitrogen and trace element applied to set up their yield potential," he said.

Frosts earlier this month had been of concern, but Mr Davey said it was a bit early for any significant damage.

"Hopefully, we don't see any more during the grain-fill period in spring," he said.

What has been of concern however, is an early disease outbreak of rust in cereals.

"Normally, they are more warm season diseases, so to find some already in the middle of winter is of concern," Mr Davey said.

"Net blotches have also taken off in barley, when normally they quieten down in winter, before taking off again in spring.

"Diseases that prefer wet, cold conditions, like septoria and ascochyta, are also present and are being treated."

Mr Davey said Russian wheat aphid and lucerne flea had also been found in cereals not treated with an insecticidal seed dressing.

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Cunliffe farmer Mark Schilling said while they had no disease pressures at present, they had seen a few insects, including red-legged earth mite and lucerne flea.

"But other than that, we have got a full profile of moisture, so our focus is keeping the crop alive and keeping it healthy," he said.

In the Murraylands, Farmer Johns agronomist Steve Hein, Murray Bridge, says spraying and spreading of nitrogen was also under way, but was being done in a "more considered way", due to high input costs.

He said growing conditions had been mild, with few significant frosts, so crops were "kicking on".

"North of here though, they are struggling for moisture and are a getting nervous about where the season is headed," he said.

Independent agronomy consultant Craig Davis, Salter Springs, agreed it had been a "variable year", with a late start for many and patchy crop development.

"We have also had a bit of crop safety issues around some pre-emergents because of the dry sowing and then heavy rain received," he said.

"There are some areas doing quite well, but the lack of rain in July is making a few farmers nervous about the prospects for the season.

"Even with the optimistic forecast, timing is very important with our rainfall."

IT WAS a mixed bag of rainfall tallies this past week, resulting in disappointment in some areas, and potentially relief in others.

YP Ag agronomist Chris Davey said they had "sporadic" rain, from 10-15 millimetres in the central region, to 5-10mm in the south.

"Northern YP only had 1-5mm, which was highly disappointing, given the forecast - the key timing of some crops and the nitrogen that was applied beforehand," he said.

"That region could be facing only one of five seasons ever recorded when July rainfall does not reach double digits. Hopefully, that changes by the end of the month."

Cunliffe farmer Mark Schilling said their 4mm was "better than a kick in the teeth".

"We had 80-100mm in late January, plus it stayed wet for a fortnight after opening rains in late May," he said.

"We haven't had big amounts since, but the soil moisture profile is still full."

Bigger tallies were recorded in the south, at Keith of 14mm, Lucindale 17mm, Nangwarry 20mm and Mount Gambier 25mm.

Nutrien Ag Solutions Naracoorte agronomist James Heffernan said while they had about 10mm this past week, July had been "relatively dry", which was a positive.

"We had 80-100mm across the region in June, so a dry start to July is good. We can still get across our paddocks," he said.

"The crops are also very healthy as there hasn't been extensive rains to wash out all the nutrients. We also haven't had the early frosts, but it has meant higher levels of bugs."