The Next Drought

[dwt]

Can't speak for other states, but from what some older farmers in my area are telling me we might be in for a pretty dry year in 2015. 8.(
Been flat out over Xmas repairing a Horwood Bagshaw harvester ( in between some other hair brained schemes ) the locals farmers find it interesting the inner workings of a harvester so we get a few drop ins every day bout smoko time for cups of tea and freshly made scones, top topic........ Water, and the lack there of it from the heavens, being a prospector I allways drop the question of water and will it rain, this being the best ice breaker for some tough old cockies to open up while they're staring at you from under they're hats, some interesting replies, one farmer replied with, "once those rings appear around the sun around 12pm its a sign of a drought ahead" another "no dew in the mornings on the grass is a sign" I piped up with "well it hasn't rained rained in a while, ha ha ha" ( jokingly ) nice one dwt another farmer states "lack of breeding from rabbits,roo's
and other animals means a dry year ahead"
Old wives tales or not, if you've been doing something long enough you know it inside out, I'm hoping these old timer farmers are wrong, but with they're experiences in years on the land I'm guessing they might be right.

 

[MJB]

They might be on to something DWT,

Usually at this time of year there are heaps of bunnies eating the bark off my trees around my house but so far I have not seen one...the slug gun has not come out of the safe yet

 

[Prospector B]

I would agree with them too DWT. Around my way we have had a really dry winter, some creeks I prospect in just about dried up! Luckily the spring rains came and also the typical winter weather in spring and it has only just warmed up for summer. Some of the long term forecasts are pointing to El Nio, not good for us prospectors and even worse for farmers.

 

[Redfin]

The old Lead Reservoir at Dunolly is but a puddle.
Most Fire Dams are not that healthy either.

 

[HeadsUp]

So farmers are going back to eating baked beans on a good day and nothing on others this year

on top of commodity woes.

http://asia.nikkei.com/magazine/201...Cover-Story/Australia-stares-into-uncertainty

 

[dwt]

So farmers are going back to eating baked beans on a good day and nothing on others this year

on top of commodity woes.

http://asia.nikkei.com/magazine/201...Cover-Story/Australia-stares-into-uncertainty

It had to slow down at some stage! :|

 

[dwt]

The old Lead Reservoir at Dunolly is but a puddle.
Most Fire Dams are not that healthy either.

That's why mrs dwt and I cleared trees around our home some time ago, can't fight fires if your dams are empty, but there is still tonnes of water being sent down the river near by for "environmental flows", glad the carp arnt going to go thirsty, but the farmers get they're water allocation cut back, I'd rather a bowl of cereal or some toast than a fillet of carp!! :/

 

[dwt]

Well I've guess we have been seeing a very dry winter thus far, some freezing cold days, snow falling at some pretty low levels, and bugger all rain, some crops around my area having been turning yellow due to the lack of water and insane frosts, spent the day yesterday digging in a seasonal creek on my mates place trying to hit ground water for some of his young calves just to have a drink,
With the lack of rain he's seeing that sheep are just walking away from their young lambs which leaves them open to the elements and vermin.
So it seems some of the old fellas back in December in my original post were on the dollar, so to prepare for this we cleaned out old dams, firewood has been cut out from some seasonal creeks (this being classed as illegal according to higher authorities is a bloody joke)
And burning out bull rushes and other shite that build up in the creeks from previous floods and what have you will hopefully help with water flow and prevent to much soil erosion to the banks when the creeks eventually do run, tough times ahead, with dry times we will see the affects further down the track on the shelves of our shopping centres.
It's raining here at the moment so hopefully the hole we dug yesterday has some water in it if not its back to the tandem trailer and water tanks to do water runs for stock, and while the stock are busy drinking out of the troughs alongside the ute and trailer with triple J blairing in the background I think we might drag out the pans and have a play

 

[Cheese]

Raining here atm, not heavy but at least it will help
as most farmers have put it in,
My friends run and own stations and farms and all have said
its a bit dry, and in South Australia when the nth wind
keeps a blowing thats spells a dry season.
all the ground growth is very low here, thats good for me with
a detector, but no good for the man on the land.

 

[GaryO]

Funny that spots I go to around Oberon are dry as a bone but the grass and undergrowth is very high. So no water in the creeks for banking and long grass makes detecting hard. One creek I started working was once a beautiful running stream that was a delight to just sit by and eat lunch or have a cuppa.
That was 20 years ago , it has simply year by year turned into a stagnant weed and plant ridden snake pit. It will take some sort of flood to get it back to its former glory. Perhaps I just started going there after a freakish 100 year flood and i may never see it that way again

 

[stoyve]

Our amazing country is a land of extremes, we love it in all its varied states and after over 200 years of European settlement, we still have a great deal to learn and understand.
It's a beautiful but tough land which dictates how we live on its own terms.
But l love it.

 

[Keano]

Couldn't agree more Stoyve. And as for them rabbits, oh how I've missed those camp oven rabbits!

 

[reefer]

yeah il'll concur with all the above!.. but eh? prior deep holes all of a sudden accessable ...all that placer gold to scrape up or detect cart away or pee on. silver linings? every cloud has won

 

[Metamorphic]

Well I've guess we have been seeing a very dry winter thus far, some freezing cold days, snow falling at some pretty low levels, and bugger all rain, some crops around my area having been turning yellow due to the lack of water and insane frosts, spent the day yesterday digging in a seasonal creek on my mates place trying to hit ground water for some of his young calves just to have a drink,
With the lack of rain he's seeing that sheep are just walking away from their young lambs which leaves them open to the elements and vermin.

Im on the way brother, dont wait up cause the boss is driving...... Im too pissed but its the only way i will do the rain dance!

Seriously, I hope its gets better for you lads on the land mate

 

[XIV]

With this years approaching El Nio, believed to be worse than 2003.
that causes the coral bleaching
it has been a very weird year indeed
In FN QLD our wet season was non existent
Dec - less than 20mm =@ 500mm
Jan - less than 100mm =@ 1000mm
Feb - 900mm =@ +2000mm
Mar - less than 200mm =@ 1500mm

We just had our wettest june since 1942
but only on the coast
not much beyond the table lands

The palmer normally has water till about Aug - Sep
but was pretty much dry by the end of may

With the approaching El Nio
it will bring a higher chance of cyclones
so maybe all our rain at once
times will tell
but so does history

 

[k man]

Reading the news last night and the scientists are saying in 15 years yhe sun is going to sleep for a while and the earth will be hit with a miniture ice age in the yr 2030, the same as back in the 16th century.so if you boys can hang on a little longer you should be chiseling ice blocks for the sheep to chew on. Not saying its Gunna happen but these guys with there fancy computer predicting programs seem prety convinced. I would post the link but havnt figured out how to do that. So much for Al gore and his global warming. Lol. 8.( ninemsn or telstra mobile news me thinks it was on :/

 

[Chewy]

The Earth has been cycling between ice ages and temperate climates for a long time now. I'm not denying man has had an impact on climate, but I don't understand why the boffins are so reluctant to admit that we are overdue for an ice age at any rate. I for 1 hate the bloody cold, so I'm not looking forward to it. Every 12000 years roughly, the Earths magnetic field flips, and we have an ice age.

 

[CreviceSucker]

Can't speak for other states, but from what some older farmers in my area are telling me we might be in for a pretty dry year in 2015. 8.(
Been flat out over Xmas repairing a Horwood Bagshaw harvester ( in between some other hair brained schemes ) the locals farmers find it interesting the inner workings of a harvester so we get a few drop ins every day bout smoko time for cups of tea and freshly made scones, top topic........ Water, and the lack there of it from the heavens, being a prospector I allways drop the question of water and will it rain, this being the best ice breaker for some tough old cockies to open up while they're staring at you from under they're hats, some interesting replies, one farmer replied with, "once those rings appear around the sun around 12pm its a sign of a drought ahead" another "no dew in the mornings on the grass is a sign" I piped up with "well it hasn't rained rained in a while, ha ha ha" ( jokingly ) nice one dwt another farmer states "lack of breeding from rabbits,roo's
and other animals means a dry year ahead"
Old wives tales or not, if you've been doing something long enough you know it inside out, I'm hoping these old timer farmers are wrong, but with they're experiences in years on the land I'm guessing they might be right.

The above was posted by dwt in 2014

might as well add to that "a pretty dry year in 2015 , 2016 , 2017 , 2018 , 2019"

:8