Farmers challenged by Peel and Namoi flooding in Tamworth and Gunnedah regions

Carroll district farmer Stephen Gibson was among those who could do little but accept this situation.

He had 40 millimetres of steady rain last week, and also copped what locals say was one of the biggest floods through his farm, Longacres, Carroll, since the 1950s.

Mr Gibson said this was because of high flows in the Mooki River which backed up against high flows already in the Namoi River.

He has 150 hectares of bread wheat looking more like a Riverina rice paddy than a Breeza Plains wheat crop. His main concern though was his crop may not have "put in some solid architecture underground" due to the wet season.

"I'm worried we don't have much root development, and when the crops fill and ripen and a big wind comes along, we might have some lodging problems," he said.

"But I've only had 150ha of wheat damaged, and in the grand scheme of things, we'll be able to salvage a lot more than we'll lose."

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An equally, if not more optimistic grower, David 'Pumba' Donaldson (on our cover), manager of Boolah Farms' 6000ha Milchengowrie aggregation near Boggabri, already has his summer crop plan ready to roll.

The water from the Namoi, which reached 7.8 metres on Sunday at Boggabri, significantly affected one 380ha paddock of Lancer wheat, and he estimates that only 250ha of this crop will be harvested.

The paddock had a reputation for flooding, including a barley crop last year that suffered significant damage. In the 2020/21 summer, a crop of sorghum was harvested with about 15 centimetres of water on the ground, using a tracked header.

However, plans were in hand for the planting of 2000ha of cotton, of which 60pc will be dryland and the remainder irrigated. A big program for sorghum was also in the pipeline, and could start as soon as Wednesday or Thursday this week.

"We've got full water storages, a terrific level of soil moisture and all our shed jobs preparing for harvest done," Mr Donaldson said.

"Our headers are ready to roll. The price of cotton and grain is in a great place. It's a really exciting and challenging time to be in farming. Definitely exciting."

Further north, extensive crop damage was evident along the lower Gwydir River and Carole Creek, said Moree agronomist Brad Cogan.

"There has been quite a lot of damage to winter crops like wheat, barley and faba beans," he said, writing off chickpeas altogether.

With the Barwon and Mehi rivers, along with the Namoi all brimming, the risk of further inundation ahead of a late October harvest weighs heavily on those trying to navigate the season.

In the upper reaches, Copeton Dam is 99pc, ensuring downstream flows will remain high, and vulnerable to a La Nina influenced season.

At Wee Waa, agronomist Steve Windress reported crop damage to low lying areas after a second inundation in the space of a week.

"With harvest only four weeks away it's devastating for some," he said.

"It's been a year of high input with a lot of spray, with rust dominant and ascochyta blight in chickpeas. We're just starting to see pests like heliothis in the legumes and some producers are wondering whether to spray or not. It's a matter of how much more do we spend due to the potential outcome."

At Gingie on the Barwon, west of Walgett, the weather is also making farmer Charlie Pye edgy.

"This is the best winter crop of wheat we've had," he said. "It's standing up there looking very frightened."

The next generation on the farm, Harry Pye, captains the 10,500ha mixed farming operation with wife Emma and baby, Imogen.

He planted Flanker and Lancer wheat from late April, finishing May 7, a week earlier than usual.

Boosted by a mild and wet winter he took advantage of a dry spell to spread 100kg/ha urea at a cost of $800,000.

"Dad reckons the crop could go 7t/ha, but I'm more conservative. I'd say about 6t/ha," he said.

With such a mild and damp growing season, the heavy yielding winter crop is staying green for longer.

"I normally begin harvest around October 20, but this year will be a bit later. I've got 12 headers lined up, most of them red with a couple green ones. We used 10 headers last year and got it all off before it rained."

He's confident enough to have forward sold some tonnage of APH 1 and 2 at $400/t, and feels better about the risk knowing he has drying equipment and twin 2000t silos.

For others, summer crop plans were ramping up. Nutrien's Gunnedah site manager and agronomist, Duncan Hill, saying "we've had a shipload of inquiries for summer crop seed".

He expected demand for sunflower seeds to be subdued as producers were "off colour" with the oilseed crop and supplies of cotton seed had been affected by flooding.

"Normally, we'd have all our growers' seed out on the farm, ready for planting, but we're having trouble sourcing seed from Cotton Seed Distributors due to the flooding and cutting of access roads around Wee Waa and Narrabri," he said.

Nutrien's Gunnedah outlet had recorded 155mm of rain for September, and 100mm for August.

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