Goulburn district rainfall buoys graziers in spring lead-up

The couple's 600-hectare cattle grazing operation, Merryvale, 40km northwest of Goulburn, received 76mm from Sunday until the early hours of Tuesday.

"It was starting to look a bit dry so it was very much needed," Mrs Nixon told The Post.

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Despite the positive impact on subsoil moisture, she wasn't making any predictions about the season ahead, given the last long hot summer and biting drought.

But thankfully, hand feeding of their Angus cattle herd ended four weeks ago. The Nixons have run out of stored silage but had been feeding cows with young calves to stave off disease and bloat.

"The pasture is looking quite good here now and we're trying to manage it so it's not flogged out," Mrs Nixon said.

That's been helped by stock agistment for three months on a nearby property that's given paddocks a chance to regenerate after the big dry.

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But now something else is happening. Large mobs of up to 100 kangaroos are turning up to feed on grass, not just on Merryvale but the neighbours' place as well.

"We've never seen mobs of that size here before," Mrs Nixon said.

"My father-in-law (John Nixon) is 86 and he's never seen anything like it either. We're shocked at the numbers."

Though the 'roos are having a field day, the Nixons are taking heart from strong cattle prices that are buoying the industry following drought.

Dam levels have also recovered slightly. On Wednesday, Mrs Nixon noted that a swan had made a nest on and 'island' on one of them that they created some years ago.

Meantime, grazier and seed potato grower Kim Weir was witnessing good runoff on his Crookwell Road property, just 3km south of the town.

The 58mm received up until Tuesday morning had filled some dams, while others were on the verge of topping up.

"We're certainly ahead of where we were last year (in terms of rainfall) and not far from the average," Mr Weir said.

He also runs sheep and prime lambs alongside 35 hectares of seed potatoes.

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This week, the federal government announced that Australian exporters of seed and processing potatoes to Thailand would no longer be subject to tariffs or volume limits.

It was one part of the country's Free Trade Agreement with Thailand.

AUSVEG national manager - export development, Michael Coote, said potato growers were now in a strong position to capitalise on opportunities in Thailand and Asia, which was an "emerging market."

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Mr Weir said this would not greatly affect him as he sold seed potatoes into South Australia and Queensland, which were then grown for supermarket shelves.

Elsewhere, at Bungonia, sheep grazier Bill Dobbie, Lumley Park, registered 29mm over two days.

"The Bungonia area has been dry so the rain was good and timely for spring," he said.

"There wasn't any run-off into dams. The pastures absorbed all the rain."

Goulburn itself recorded close to 21mm across Sunday and Monday, according to Weatherzone.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a 70-75 per cent chance of above average rainfall around Goulburn in August and a 65-70 per cent chance for September.

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