Winter croppers are holding their collective breath as harvest activity becomes frenetic with hail and rain in patches throwing cold water on what is, overall, a splendid season.
At Moree farmers dodged a bullet with storms developing to their south and headers are right now in the paddocks taking advantage of a good weather window for the next week. As a result most of the grain harvest should come off with money again flowing into town and the mood is near celebratory, said agronomist Robert Long, Delta Ag.
"Given less than average in-crop rain at Moree, yield and water use efficiency numbers are generally above expectation and grain quality is the best seen for more than 10 years."
Storms did strike just to the south, around Bellata, with agronomist Drew Penberthy reporting half the district was affected by excessive rain - 60 to 100mm in parts - with wheat downgraded from APH2 to H2 at a reduction in return of between $15 and $25 a tonne.
He said Durrum wheat had been the worst affected not only from lodging but also residual fungal crown rot, which was something of a surprise given the extensive dry in previous years.
Agronomist and hail assessor Emma Ayliffe, Summit Ag, has clients west of Lake Cargelligo towards Hillston and south near Neradhan where some of the worst storm damage occurred, with 15 to 100pc crop damage during two storms from October 24.
What wasn't affected at first was wiped out in the second event last weekend in most unusual circumstances. One 50 year old farmer at Neradhan had not seen hail since he moved back home at the age of 15.
"Between eight and 12 different enterprises have been hit and not all were insured," Ms Ayliffe reported, including her own property east of the lake - farmed with her partner Craig Newham.
At a cost of 1pc of the nominated value, hail and fire insurance was regarded as cheap but its take up depended on a farmer's risk and debt profile, with those required to make loan repayments more likely to insure, she said.
"For these people they have gone through a roller coaster of emotion since the event - from saying things like 'Well, we've got more room in the silos for the rest of the crop', to 'F@#! it was going to be such a good harvest!'
"The joy a farmer gets comes from literally reaping what they have sown and that is not going to happen to these people." she said.
For Emma and Craig this year would have been their first harvest from their new farm. "It would have been nice to get a crop - to see all that hard work pay off."
DPI Technical specialist Don McCaffrey was at the opening of the new department facility in Orange this week and said his own survey of agronomists in the field showed damage from storms in late October was confined to parts of the central west with a couple crops completely wiped out and others partially affected.
In most cases it is too early to talk about how much grain has been downgraded.
Country north east of Coonamble and north of Gulargambone fell under the storms' shadow as did parts north of Narromine and south of the Bogan River.
"South east of Parkes appears to be some of the worst affected with up to 70 per cent yield loss in one or two crops and 15 to 20pc losses over a larger area," he reported.
The surrounding district had 130mm after October 20 causing lodging but not necessarily downgrading grain. Around Coonamble the country had been so dry that recent rain literally disappeared down the grey soil cracks and headers are back in paddocks.
"By comparison in 2016 it was just wet, wet, wet," Mr McCaffery said.
If there has been a hold up in the far north it is the rising damp of a night bringing harvest to a halt after 11pm.
The source of the dew has been the long, cool finish which has been a boost to all crops in this season, despite the lack of grain filling rain in September and early October.
"The dry shaved yield potential but that has been counter balanced by the cool finish," said Mr McCaffery.
Elswewhere in the state the Riverina escaped damage while there was some impact around Young but crops were at an early stage and unlikely to be downgraded.
On the coast a hard rain fell at Mororo on the Lower Clarence where an investment in netting strung between poles saved a stonefruit orchard from disaster.
