WEATHER

National soil moisture maps: January 2020

The latest national soil moisture map for January sees some improvements.

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January update

Thanks to support from John Deere, Kondinin Group has engaged Dr David Stephens from Agrometeorology Australia to produce these maps for Kondinin Group members for those who are summer cropping and in preparation for the 2020 winter cropping program.

The maps produced as close to real-time after rainfall is recorded at more than 1000 real-time rain stations across the country.

Commentary

Storm rains have seen some improvement in soil moisture levels in southern Queensland and northern NSW. These rainfall events have been typically sporadic and resulting soil moisture levels are highly variable in these areas as a result.

In many cases the rainfall may be too late to deliver a harvestable cash crop but would be suffice for some forage crops to maintain soil cover

Western and Southern Australian soil moisture levels remain low with little activity in these areas over summer to date.

These maps will be updated monthly thanks to continued support from John Deere.

PDF:  January 2020 Plant available soil moisture 

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