Hailstorm ruins crops
Three separate bouts of hail hit the town of Southern Cross and the surrounding farming district on Sunday night, wreaking havoc on crops ripe for harvest.
It was the second hail storm in as many weeks to dash the hopes of farmers at the end of what had been a relatively good season.
Agronomist Gary Kenwood of Southern Cross owns the only farm supply store in town.
He said it was yet another disappointing finish to the season for grain growers who have been battling dry seasons for a decade.
"It's been a very, very hard ten years," he said.
"The last six have been definite droughts, the two beforehand were certainly less than average seasons.
"It looked liked the planets had lined up and we would eventually get to put headers into a crop and now it's all turned pear-shaped again."
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