Winter weather pattern could be fantastic news for farmers

Some Queensland farmers want more rain,
others want  it to stay dry this winter.

An independent climatologist says a change in the weather pattern could be fantastic news for farmers who need winter rain.

University of Southern Queensland's Professor Roger Stone said the El Nino weather pattern had all but ended, after being responsible for below average rainfall across the northern and eastern parts of Australia.

Professor Stone said he had been watching temperatures in the tropical Pacific, and while there was still a high chance of a La Nina forming, a neutral pattern could be just as good, particularly for major cropping regions.

"Historically, we know just going into the neutral pattern with a major shift out of an El Nino at this time of year tends to give us our best wheat crops in Australia, so it just tends to rain at the right time and it just tends to dry off around harvest," he said.

"So we're almost better than having a major La Nina."

Read the ABC Rural story - “Weather pattern change welcomed by most in agriculture.”