November rain tallies well below average across SA

Most regions haven't seen a significant rain event since June, with only a millimetre falling here and there in the months following and tallies up to 100mm below a typical year.

Wudinna, which has a yearly mean rainfall of 276.4mm, has received just 209mm of rain this year, with its highest tally - 50.6mm - falling in June.

Only a total of 41.4mm hit the ground in August, September and October, about half of what the town would normally expect.

The area would traditionally get about 22.7mm in November, but 0mm has fallen so far.

It's a similar story in the Mid North, where no rain has fallen in Snowtown this month though it would typically get about 30mm, while Hawker in the Flinders Ranges had less than 1mm fall when its mean November tally is 22.8mm.

Across the rest of the state, Karoonda and Loxton have both experienced 0mm of rain this month, while Kadina has had 0.6mm, Mount Gambier 0.8mm, Port Lincoln 1.4mm, Parndana 2.2mm and Ceduna 2.4mm, with Oodnadatta the outlier on a tally of 13.2mm.

Elders Wudinna agronomist Daniel Bowey said the recent weather meant harvest had started and finished earlier than ever in the region, with most farmers in the central and upper Eyre Peninsula now finished their reaping program.

Yields are probably down a little bit there's obviously a fair bit of frost you know, especially around the central EP and north.

"Besides breakdowns, it has been the best harvest run that I've ever seen," he said.

"There were obviously no rain events pulling people up and we also didn't have a hell of a lot hot weather with winds for harvest bans.

"Because of the dry weather, farmers will actually have a bit of a break between reaping and spraying because there are very little weeds in paddocks at the moment as there isn't any moisture to bring them up."

Although the break is well earned according to Mr Bowey, it means there is limited subsoil moisture heading into 2024 which could be dire come seeding.

"The general consensus is summer rain brings summer weeds which means spraying and an outlay for the farmers but it also means subsoil moisture," he said.

"We do want that early rainfall going into next year so we can potentially set the year up.

"If we don't get any over summer, we'll really be hanging out in March and April to get any moisture in the ground so the profile isn't completely dry at seeding time and we're not banking on a break to save us."

Meanwhile in the sheep sector, the lack of rain has had an impact on farmers' long term feed outlooks according to Nutrien Jamestown stock agent Shannon Jaeschke.

"This time last year, people hadn't had sheep on grain stubble yet but this year we're getting sheep on stubble now," he said.

"That means the longevity of feed won't be where it has been over the last few years.

"The quality of the stubble might be okay, but you're not going to have the spilled grain or knocked on grain to allow stock to stay in the paddock longer."

At market, value for the lighter, longer term lambs has been impacted by the rain according to Mr Jaeschke.

"Everyone's going for a quicker turnaround job on the back of the long term outlook of feed in the paddock," he said.

"At the same time it creates good opportunity for people to buy a longer term article because of the buy price, but the 35kg lambs are more affected because they're a longer term project over a heavier weight article which can be put on a feedlot and is naturally a quicker turnover."

"The grain prices are still quite good though, so some people are a little bit hesitant on the idea of potentially grain feeding but at the same time you're getting what you put out so people will still look ahead to what they'll see come lambing rather than just a short term view."

Mr Jaeschke said although he would never knock rain when it came, he believed any rain during summer would have little immediate impact on the region and would instead be beneficial for 2024 feed and crops.

The Bureau of Meteorology's climate outlook for summer suggests the entire state has at least a 75 per cent chance of exceeding the median maximum temperature for December to January, while there is at least a 65pc chance of exceeding the median minimum temperature for the same period statewide.

December to February rainfall has about a 60pc to 80pc chance to be below median for southern SA, while much of the state has an equal chance of being below or above median.

The Bureau has predicted possible showers and thunderstorms from Thursday onward across most of the state, with rainfall expected to be less than 2mm in the west but possible reaching between 10mm and 30mm in the central and eastern regions.