As was expected, rainfall amounts varied from place to place with some areas getting up to 20mm while other parts got as little as 3mm or 4mm of rain over the weekend.

Obviously, those that received the least amount of rain are the least satisfied, but any amount is still better than nothing.

There is the promise of more rain to come later this week, but quantities forecast don’t seem to be that high.

As most farms are still green and growing, it’s fair to say that the recent rain should halt a further slippage into deeper soil moisture deficits, but probably won’t solve the soil moisture deficit on any affected farm.

Nitrogen

Farms that stopped spreading nitrogen in recent weeks should resume this week given that there is moisture in the soil and more rain to come to wash in fertiliser.

It’s probably early yet to talk of farms recovering, particularly where less than 10mm of rain has fallen, but where more rain fell there should be evidence of a recovery in grass growth.

In such cases, the farm should be given the opportunity to recover and depending on where average farm cover is at, this may mean feeding supplement for longer.

There is a great grass-growth response to feeding supplement after it rains if average farm cover is low.

This is because covers need a chance to recover back up to 600kg to 700kg per hectare. However, if average farm cover is already at this level then there is no need to continue supplementing, presuming growth is at demand.

The thing to keep in mind is that even though it has rained, soil moisture deficits are still present and unless we get 40mm to 50mm of rain over the next week or so, the country will continue to teeter on the edge of drought.