Hunter Local Land Services

April rainfall totals continue to support positive production outlooks across most of the region.

• April rainfall was near average to above average for much of the region.
• Widespread, timely rainfall throughout April, with well above normal totals at some locations, maintain the positive outlook for livestock producers.
• Follow-up rainfall is needed to aid further improvement in conditions for those regions that currently in the NSW CDI Drought Affected or Recovery categories.
• The drought forecast suggests that parts of the region will likely further transition into the Drought Affected CDI category by the end of July (with low to moderate model agreement and moderate to high past accuracy).

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Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)

Plant greenness levels remain near average to above average for most of the region for the February to April period.

Note that some of the extremely negative NDVI areas (brown patches) are water bodies or from the influence of mining operations.

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 high across the three regions.

• Further rainfall will be beneficial in maintaining the positive production outlook across the region.
• Some locations in the Hunter LLS region  transitioned into the Drought Affected category during the month as a result of a rapid decline in the Rainfall Indicator. This decline is due to April 2024 rainfall data no longer influencing the long-term calculation for this indicator.

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