“There has been very little rain so a good inch would help and certainly lift farmers’ spirits,” he said.

Mr Nitschke said recent hot winds had “knocked off yield potential”.

The crops hardest hit from the hot winds were canola, wheat, barley and legumes.

And it is a disappointing turn of events after a strong start to the season.

“Before this the season looked very promising,” he said.

“With the price of everything (fertilisers and petrol) going up, farmers just want a good return for their crops.

“Farmers are now hoping for no frosts and a good inch of rain, hopefully this will make for good hay making.”

Mr Nitschke said grain prices had drop-ped quite a bit, to a level he deemed as “reasonably low”.

“They are respectable but they could be higher,” he said.

Mr Nitschke said most Murraylands farmers were content with how the season was faring, however, with many areas looking better than the same time last year.