North West Local Land Services

Drought recovery continues to be variable across the region.

The Combined Drought Indicator (CDI) shows approximately 78% of the region being in a drought category at the end of May.
May rainfall has been above average in the west of the region and near average to below average in the east. This has caused a high degree of variability in recovery across the region.
For some parts of the region timely rainfall has allowed cropping programs to continue in ideal conditions with increased plantings, and good germination for early sown crop varieties.
Grazing enterprises are experiencing a slowdown in pasture growth, with some hay and silage production occurring.
Continued follow up rainfall will be critical for a recovery from drought.
Producers continue to monitor forecasts closely and implement drought management strategies as required for their farm enterprises.
The NSW DPI continues to closely monitor conditions in this region

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Normalised Difference Vegetation Index

Plant greenness levels have remained generally stable since the last Update.

Plant greenness levels are highly variable across the region and generally higher in the east of the region.
On ground reports suggest that rainfall has been very variable across the region.
Areas with below average levels of greenness indicate low levels of ground cover and standing dry matter available for livestock or recently sown paddocks.
Some of the extremely negative NDVI areas (brown patches) are water bodies. Some of the extremely green patches are plant response to irrigated cropping programs.
The impacts of the December bushfire in the Pilliga south of Narrabri remain evident in this month’s Update.

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Drought indicators continue to improve but remain variable across the region.

There has been a steady but slow improvement in the indicators in response to May rainfall totals.
Further substantial follow up rainfall is needed to trigger any recovery from drought conditions across the region. The influence of the late May and early June rainfall will not be known until the next Update.

To access a Drought History chart for your Parish, visit the Seasonal Conditions Information Portal.