Wheat farmers singing in the rain

WA farmers who got a soaking in the past few days are hoping they can turn the puddles into big profits.

The rain came at just the right time for grain growers in the middle of seeding and livestock producers who needed a downpour to put some life into their pasture.

Ashley Burges said 27mm of rain at the weekend at his farm north of Meckering was just what he needed to justify putting in this season's wheat crop.

Mr Burges and his father Merv had seeded canola and lupins into dry ground but were holding out for rain before planting wheat.

"This was important rain. If we didn't get this rain, we would have been looking at other options and seeing which way we went with (our) cropping program," he said.

The farm had only received about 70mm of rain this year before the weekend. Mr Burges expects to stop handfeeding his sheep flock over the next couple of weeks and move them on to green pasture as a result of the rain.

Narrogin merino ewe producer Danielle England said the rain had breathed life into farms in her district.

Mrs England said the pasture on her property started to germinate last month but up until now there had been no moisture to support growth.

She said falls of 22mm in the Narrogin valley at the weekend also gave farmers the breathing space they needed to sow their wheat crops.

A long spell of warm and dry weather leading into last week prompted the Grain Industry Association of WA to warn that the yield potential of this season's crop was falling with every day without rain.

Many districts had been set up for a good growing season after big falls in late March and early last month but those hopes were starting to evaporate.

ConsultAg director Richard Vincent said 70 per cent of the Wheatbelt was now in a "pretty good position".

"Early rain around Easter provided some very handy subsoil moisture reserves and the weekend rain allows the crop to germinate and grow into that moisture," he said.

"Some areas with early sowings have crops out of the ground and farmers are feeling optimistic about yield potential. Some areas were not so lucky with only single-digit rain totals and will wait patiently for the next rain system."

Mr Vincent said the traditional break of the season was about the third week of May, so there was no cause for alarm for growers sweating on more rain.

"There is a long way to go but it would be nice to see WA double up with another 15 million-tonne crop like last year and put some more resilience back into farmers' balance sheets," he said.

WA's grain harvest is the most valuable annual event in Australian agriculture. Last season's crop and a record 17 million-tonne harvest in 2013-14 generated close to $10 billion for the local economy.

Prominent grower John Nicoletti said the eastern edge of the Wheatbelt - which includes much of his land - had falls of up to 10mm at the weekend but needed more rain.

"We are not complaining but would like another 20-25mm. We are hoping for some more from another front over the next week," he said.

Mr Nicoletti said he was about 10 days away from completing seeding over 65,000ha.

'The weekend rain allows the crop to germinate and grow into that moisture.'"ConsultAg's *Richard Vincent *