Farm employee Cam Parker, who grows barley, wheat and canola on land around Boort, said the town recorded 23 millimetres of rain on Wednesday night. 

Although farmers traditionally waited until rain had fallen before sowing their crops, Mr Parker said a lack of rainfall before this month meant many had planted crops into dry soil.

But recent rains, combined with warm weather, had enabled those crops to grow quickly.  

He said the wet weather had been cause for quiet optimism in the farming community.  

“We had a Biggest Morning Tea event in town yesterday and there was a lot more smiles around the place,” he said. 

Mr Parker described the last few years as particularly hard for grain farmers, saying a lack of rain at growing time and during spring had stymied their crops’ growth.

But he was wary not to celebrate too soon, saying spring rains are the most critical for their yield.  

“August and September rains are definitely the key to finishing things off,” he said.  

“We definitely need rain come spring to capitalise on the good start we've made.”

Victorian Farmers’ Federation president Peter Tuohey said he was expecting a good wet season for those on the land and was also hopeful catchment areas would see higher falls than in recent times.   

“The bigger catchments like Eildon and Eppalock really need some good falls to top them up and get good allocations of irrigation waters,” he said.  

The weather was good news for the state’s beleaguered dairy farmers too, with rain promoting feed growth on their pastures, Mr Tuohey said. 

Dairy farmer Neil Pankhurst agreed, saying he also grew grains for to tide over his herd next winter. 

“We use it as an insurance policy for the next 12 months,” he said.

If rain had not fallen, Mr Pankhurst said the dairy industry would be in even more difficult territory than they already were.  

Bureau of Meteorology measurements taken at Kerang and Charlton also recorded higher than average rainfalls last Wednesday, with readings of 14 and 18 millimetres respectively.

Bendigo received 15.4 millimetres of rain between Tuesday and Friday afternoon.