KEY cropping districts in Victoria that had recorded their driest July on record have bounced back with useful rain over the first three weeks of August.
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Rainfall varies generally between 20 and 40mm.
Crops in areas around Bendigo are in excellent condition.
Parts of the Upper Yorke Peninsula, around Kadina, the South Australian Mallee, the Tatiara and Victoria's west Wimmera were at the lower end of the rainfall scale, with around 20-25mm in general, while the south-east of SA, the Victorian Mallee, the eastern Wimmera and the Eyre Peninsula have all received around 30-40mm.
Rain has come in a series of stormy showers rather than with an organised rain band, with frequent daily falls of 5-10mm rather than one heavy rain.
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The storm cell nature of the rain means it has been extremely patchy but with the number of fronts passing through nearly everywhere has had rain sufficient to at least revive dry crops.
Crops are now in generally good order, with the prospect of further light showers, cumulatively up to 15mm, expected over the next couple of days.
The rain is likely to be accompanied by a late winter icy blast, with snow expected above 700 metres.
Canola is now in full flower in the Mallee and starting to flower in the Wimmera and Tatiara.
Farmers are now watching anxiously the likelihood of a series of frosts possible early next week.
While too early to cause significant damage, apart from potentially in very early developing parts of the Mallee, they will not be beneficial, especially to flowering canola and pulse crops.
Further north, NSW enjoyed reasonable rain as part of the system, with falls of 20-50mm for the month for many centres, consolidating the likelihood of a monster year in that state.