Riverina Local Land Services

Conditions and outlooks are positive in the west of the region; drying trend continues in the east.

• The Combined Drought Indicator (CDI) shows approximately 32% of the region is in the Drought Affected category at the end of July. There has also been expansion of the area in the Drought category from 3% to 5% during July.
• On ground reports suggest that livestock producers in the east of the region are continuing to closely monitor stock management plans regarding selling, feeding or agistment, through winter.
• In some areas there is a ‘green drought’ with rain events resulting in a pasture response, but little to no available feed.
• Other areas continue to report good production outlooks as crops access sub-soil moisture or respond well to timely and effective rainfall events.
• Producers continue to monitor forecasts closely and implement management strategies as required for their enterprises.
• The DPIRD continues to closely monitor conditions in this region

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Normalised Difference Vegetation Index

Plant greenness levels are variable across the region during the May to July period.

Note that some of the extremely negative NDVI areas (brown patches) are water bodies.

The NDVI anomaly is a useful measure of vegetation density and plant health. It estimates the amount of green vegetation there is in the landscape compared to what is expected at the given time of year, against the baseline period 1987 - 2020.

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Individual Drought Indicators

Drought indicators remain low at locations in the central and east of the region.

• The indicators at Gundagai and Temora continue to remain low. Gundagai transitioned into the Drought category during July.
• The soil water and plant growth indicators continue to decline at Temora, while the rainfall indicator remains high.
• Hay continues to see a positive response to rainfall events and production outlooks remain strong.
• Timely and effective follow up rainfall will be crucial over the coming months, particularly in the east of the region.

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