TEN days ago, the grains crop in southern Queensland and northern NSW was close to succumbing to the unusually hot and dry spring weather, which had already gutted the crop in central Queensland.
But then the rains came, just in the nick of time, reviving the wheat crop and restoring growers' hopes that they might still be part of what could be the biggest national harvest in four years.
Wayne Newton, who grows grain near Dalby on Queensland's Darling Downs, told The Australian Financial Review that the rainfall on the first weekend of September was patchy across the region, but he was one of those who benefitted.
"Things were looking quite bleak. Then we had 20mm in two falls. That has made a tremendous difference to our wheat crop. It's saved it.
"The crop is now in head and it's going to have enough moisture to finish, barring any extremely hot weather again."
* ABARE today will update its crop forecasts. In June, the bureau forecast a 22 million tonne wheat crop. Rabobank on Friday maintained its wheat forecast at 22.8 million tonnes.
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