Perfect finish to 2023 with widespread rain across the state's north

"There's been a mixed bag of falls, but on the southern Liverpool Plains, you couldn't have asked for anything better," he said.

"The early sown crops will have really hit their straps now. There's now more optimism for those crops sown in the last three weeks. This rain has been really helpful, and the forecasts for the next seven days look really robust," he said.

Mr Gulliford said the window would be closed for dryland cotton, but sorghum planting in the next 10 or so days would be a good option.

"Some people might have a crack at planting some mung beans, too," he said.

Scone agronomist Ross Watson said rainfalls between 40mm to 120mm in the last two days had utterly changed the seasonal outlook in the Upper Hunter Valley.

"Most areas got between 50 to 80mm in what would be the biggest single fall in 12 months," Mr Watson said.

"This year has been in the top 10 per cent of the driest years in the valley."

He said crops in the Merriwa district had performed well if they had been sowed in April and had a chance to get their roots into good subsoil moisture.

"There was no crop to speak of around Scone, but Merriwa farmers got up to 3.5 tonnes to the hectare.

"Which is a good indication of fallow and moisture management."

Mr Watson said the extreme dry and then rapid turnaround also proved the value of those sub-tropical pastures grown in the district.

"It's reinforced the absolute value of these grasses in these variable climates. The growth since the rain has been fantastic,, and those paddocks with these grasses are now standing up to the dry and growing good feed."

Moree agronomist Peter Birch, B&W Rural, said widespread rainfalls on the northwest plains between 20 to 40mm in the Moree district and as far west as Rowena and Mungindi on Tuesday.

"Then on Wednesday night, east of the highway, there were some really heavy falls," Mr Birch said.

"In general, most people would have had about 40mm, and that has been fantastic on pastures, crops and those banking moisture for winter crops."

Mr Birch said some dryland cotton crops had struggled during consecutive days of temperatures of 40 degrees, but the change and rain had provided some cheer.

"The window for more dryland cotton is definitely closed, but there's still an opportunity to plant sorghum up until January 10, 2024, or mung beans up to January 20 to 25," he said.

"There's been a lot of winter crops sown, so some people might try a summer crop option to break into a rotation. It's not too late at this stage for sorghum and mung beans."

Bede O'Mara, an agronomist with Incitec Pivot Fertilisers at Toowoomba, Queensland, said southern Queensland had only received "patchy falls."

He said planting windows for dryland cotton had closed, and sorghum was a chief consideration. Demand for nitrogen had been steady, and only planned applications had been spread, while opportunity applications were almost negligible.

"Phosphate fertilisers for immediate use prompted by the planting rains have been tight, but those organised folk had their supply sorted well in advance," Mr O'Mara said.

"Those adding more planted hectares may have got caught out, but there is product around, but the time of year can create logistical issues with trucks, etcetera.

"In northern NSW, around Moree and Narrabri, the dryland cotton planters have rolled on cause they can get away with it. There is interest in mungbean and other legumes for post-Christmas sowings and summer forage.

"This rain is great for the fallows and for the early oats and winter wheat blokes come 2024."

Rainfall totals for the seven days up until Thursday, December 21: Byrock 41mm, Mungindi Post Office 52.6, Warialda Post Office 42.6, Condobolin Airport AWS 83.2, Rocky Glen (Borah Station) 43.2, Bukkula RFS 50, Uralla (Salisbury Court) 47.4, Armidale 66.6, Inverell (Elsmore Village) 58.8, Moppy Lookout (Barrington Tops) 71.4, Dungog - Main Creek 72.6, Hunter River (Glenbawn Dam) 56.8, Scone Airport AWS 50.4, Murrurundi 41.1, Lithgow (Cooerwull) 83.2, Hampton (Bindo) 92, Oberon (Jenolan Caves Road) 129, Tarana (Fish River) 94, Forbes Airport AWS 68.4, Crookwell Post Office 47, Marulan (George St) 55, Stockinbingal (Sunnydale) 47.6, Dorrigo (Old Coramba Rd) 45.9, Manilla (Museum) 37.8, Bundarra Post Office 83.8, and Inverell Research Centre 54.2.