False break concern for some

A lack of rain north of Perth over the past month has raised concerns for farmers over a false break to the season.

Agvivo agricultural consultant and Gingin beef grazier Phil Barrett-Lennard posted on twitter last week, "I'm calling it. It's officially a false break."

Mr Barrett-Lennard said pastures on his property at Gingin were looking particularly brown.

He had not had significant rain since receiving 28mm in early April, which was spread out over a week.

"The ground was wet on top for seven days, so we had an amazing germination. It looked great but the subsoil was dry," he said.

He received just 1mm last week and less than 2mm earlier this week, which is expected to make little difference. No further rain is forecast in the next ten days.

Mr Barrett-Lennard said on his farm some paddocks were in better condition than others, and some species were hurting more than others - with small clovers suffering the most.

His concern is that the majority of the first germination will die, meaning a second germination will be necessary.

"The second germination is never as good as the first, so we could end up pastures lacking in density," he said.

Although keen for more rain, he said his situation was not yet critical.

"It's still quite early in the season so it's not the end of the world.

"However, if we were sitting in this scenario on June 1, I would be very anxious."

At Roundhill, near Moora, Kristin Lefroy was in a similar situation having received 22mm at the start of April, followed by less than 2mm earlier this week.

"The rain came early we had a great germination of pastures and weeds, but a lot of them are dying now," he said.

"A lot of our clover and medic is already dead," he said.

Mr Lefroy said he had seeded more than a third of his cropping program. Some small patches of canola had germinated.

"It is only May 4 so I'm not concerned about the whole season and our average break isn't for another two or three weeks.

"Hopefully this last couple of millimetres will keep the germinated crop alive until something else comes along."

It was a mixed story south of the Great Eastern Highway.

Farmers near the coast were enjoying an excellent start to the season after early and abundant rain, however further east pastures were under stress following a dry spell at the end of April.

Planfarm consultant Paul Omodei said farmers in the south-west corner of the State, through to areas around Donnybrook, Manjimup Boyup Brook and Frankland, were enjoying one of the best starts to their seasons since 2005.

Mr Omodei said those farmers had an early break toward the start of April, with many receiving between 50mm and 75mm.

Although conditions were dry for a few weeks in late April, a top up rain of about 15mm to 25mm in the past week had delivered a substantial boost, he said.

Mr Omodei said going east, the other side of Boyup Brook, and around Kojonup, Broomehill and Katanning, pastures were in need of more rain.

"These areas received a small amount of rain over the past week - generally between 5mm and 10mm, so just enough to keep things going. More follow up rain within the next week will be important," he said.

"We have had some pastures in those areas start to die off, and some are just hanging on, but the pasture density should be maintained provided these farmers get follow up rain."

Mr Omodei said stressed pastures were vulnerable to insect pressures at this time of year and while pasture manipulation is a consideration, is it not time to do this yet in most areas.