LIKE previous years, the weather this spring is playing a major role on crop development and prices.

Fortunately, in eastern Australia, a return to normal rain patterns has provided a promising outlook for pastures and hay crops.

Last month's rain has been as much as twice the monthly average for farmers around Donald and Camperdown.

Access to silage paddocks is a challenge for silage quality this season.

Hay producers around Berrigan in the Riverina are wearing gumboots for the first time in five years.

With the high prices for grain, cereal growers will be intending to harvest crops for grain rather than cut them for hay.

Rain will be valuable for autumn-sown crops of lucerne hay, planted on the promising access to irrigation allocations on both sides of the Murray River.

These producers are expecting the quality of hay and silage crops to be average or above average.

This time last year, silage was being cut in the area but rain is delaying the silage season this year.

While many dairy farmers were intending to cut silage before the weekend rain, weather and wet paddocks remained a barrier.

Unless producers' machinery can gain timely access to firm paddocks, pastures and crops will suffer low quality from over mature silage or potential rain damage from early hay production.

The wet weather is providing only minimal demand for hay.

Some paddocks in southwest Victoria are so bogged they look like they have been recently worked with off-set discs.

A mix of both low-quality roughage hay and higher-quality milking hay is starting to move for this short-term demand at unchanged prices.

An increasing number of hay trucks have been reported travelling down the Princes Highway to Gippsland.

South Gippsland is reported to be experiencing wetter conditions than both west and central Gippsland.

Like their colleagues in the north, Gippsland dairy farmers are considering their options for silage.

Contractors with large silage wagons and forage choppers may be restricted to certain paddocks till conditions dry out during spring.

Hay buyers and sellers are beginning to seek out ideas for new-crop hay prices.

The carry-over tonnage of weather-damaged cereal hay will weigh on the market and set a low base for hay this spring.

Hay exporters are yet to release their prices but vetch hay producers in the Mallee are indicating $200 a tonne ex Mallee farm for the hay they are expecting this spring.