22 November 2021,Australia: Farmers along the Lachlan River are assessing the impact of widespread flooding after a week of torrential rain in central NSW.
Jim Cronin, Nutrien Ag Solutions Agronomist at Forbes, NSW, says there is still a huge amount of water coming downstream.
“We have had a really wet year in central west NSW, in fact almost double our annual rainfall. Earlier this month they had to let out an additional 80,000 megalitres from Wyangala Dam,” says Mr Cronin.
From Cowra to Gooloogong, the flood water over the past week has been considerably greater than the major floods we saw in 2016. The flood peak in Forbes was downgraded but unfortunately the damage was already done.
“We should be harvesting winter crops now so it’s awful timing for this type of weather. While it’s still too early to understand the full extent of the damage most properties along the river between Cowra and Forbes have been impacted and it’s estimated to have caused tens of millions of dollars in yield loss to grains in the area. Meanwhile, we have some farmers who have planted cotton and corn that are also impacted.
“The local community is resilient and very experienced with dealing with floods, so our team will be there to help growers to rebuild, replant and clean up,” says Mr Cronin.
