Australia: March rain offers optimism for winter crops

March rain offers winter crop optimism Good March rain has boosted soil moisture levels and left Queensland farmers optimistic for a good winter crop season. Heavy rains across the Maranoa and western Darling Downs in March are expected to result in large plantings around Roma, Surat, St George, Chinchilla, and Miles. Most of these areas saw 130-150 millimetres of rain during March, or double the monthly longer-term averages. This included 90-110mm across the Maranoa and western Darling Downs and 25-50mm across the central Down in the past week. Falls were lighter to the east and south but adequate to allow for winter cropping preparation ahead of planting in the coming weeks. Most of the western and central Darling Downs saw 60-70mm for the month, which is near average and keeps summer crop farmers on track for well above average sorghum yields. Rainfall totals tapered away to the south, closer to the New South Wales border where farmers are still looking for soaking rains to ...