Mr Nicholas said the Esperance office had received several inquiries about rising salinity levels and the emergence of blue green algae following the dry summer.

He said thunderstorms last month had helped farmers in the western half of the shire, particularly around Munglinup.

“That took some pressure off there,” he said.

“The driest area is to the east of town and that is probably an area that has got the most likelihood of having a water shortage.”

Condingup farmer John Darlow said it was very dry on his property, which was good because it had kept summer weeds away.

But he would like some good rainfall by the end of this month.

Munglinup farmer Scott Lawrance said his property had avoided the thunderstorms and his perennial pastures would appreciate a drink.

But the dry weather was good for his cropping operations.

“There aren’t too many weeds to spray but we’re just hoping it will rain pretty soon,” Mr Lawrance said.

Grass Patch farmer Dan Sanderson said the southern part of his farm received 52mm during the thunderstorms.

“We’ve sprayed half the farm, the other half only got about 13mm,” he said.

Mr Sanderson said he was hoping for rain from now on to build up subsoil moisture.

“But being dry has been a bit of a blessing so far because we haven’t had a lot of summer weeds to control,” he said.

WA Farmers Esperance Ravensthorpe zone president Glenn Mitchell said most farm dam levels throughout the region would be getting very low.

“But the better ones that are bigger or have been cleaned out previously will still have water,” he said.

“Anything that hasn’t been clean or is a bit suspect has either gone dry or is about to.”

He said cattle producing properties needed water urgently.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Food’s seasonal outlook for March, temperatures have been erratic with extremely hot days mixed with extended cooler periods.

It said rainfall had been well below average during summer and wind, rain, hail and fires had all adversely affected parts of the region.

“Summer weed issues have been minimal due to the dry conditions.”

“Effective weed control leading up to the next season will depend on rainfall in the coming weeks and months.

“Given the carryover burden of weed seed from last season, this will be a critical matter for most farms.”