Hunter Local Land Services

Follow-up rainfall through March continues to improve conditions across the region.

• March rainfall was average to well above average across the region and production outlooks for many areas remain positive.
• Widespread, timely rainfall throughout March, with significant totals at some locations, which is a positive for livestock producers.
• Follow-up rainfall is needed to aid further improvement in conditions for those regions that recently transitioned into the NSW CDI Recovery category.
• The drought forecast suggests that parts of the region will likely transition into the Drought Affected CDI category by the end of June (with moderate model agreement and low 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 January to March 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.

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