LAST month was the wettest July for Western Australia since 2016.
The wet month was welcomed by most producers across the State, although independent agronomist Michael Lamond said some paddocks were now a little too wet, particularly in the Albany port zone.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), WA's rainfall for last month was seven per cent above the 1961-90 average.
"Again the rainfall has been widespread and a lot of areas have had above average or recent average rainfall now and some areas have had well above average, which follows a relatively dry June for a lot of people," Mr Lamond said.
"It means that the soil profile is quite wet now, which is good and bad.
"The lower rainfall areas are looking sensational and in the higher rainfall areas with shallow soils west of the Meckering line and closer to the South Coast have been experiencing a lot of waterlogging, which has set back crops in some cases.
"Particularly on the South Coast, crops have been set back quite severely.
"For most areas crops will recover, however (farmers) probably won't get the top end yields out of those paddocks that they've had in the past, but there is still all of August to go for paddocks to dry out."
For waterlogged areas, Mr Lamond said crops which were sown early had the best chance of recovering and would be noticeable in yields come harvest.
"There are areas in the Albany port zone which are very wet and their average yields on a paddock basis will be probably lower than the last few years, but the good areas will be exceptionally good, particularly where crops went in early," he said.
"It's really noticeable as you go further south towards Williams - any crops that went in early have hardly suffered from water logging, so it's later sown crops that have gone yellow.
"There will be a big difference in the high rainfall areas between the good and bad - the good will be exceptional and the bad will be really bad."
Overall Mr Lamond expected that WA was still on track for a record grain production tonnage, pending good growing conditions.
Rainfall exceeded the average for much of the South West Land Division (SWLD) and adjacent southern Goldfields.
For the remainder of the State, rainfall was close to average or below average.
For the State's south west (Jurien Bay to Bremer Bay), rainfall was 55pc above the 1961-90 average and was the wettest July since 1996.
Across the SWLD (Geraldton to Esperance), the month's rainfall exceeded the 1961-90 average by 50pc and was also the wettest July since 1996.
"Many sites in the SWLD had their wettest July on record, or their wettest July in decades, including several sites with 50 to 140 years of record," BoM stated.
"A cut-off low pressure system and associated cloudband produced widespread moderate rainfall in a large area from southern Gascoyne to much of the SWLD on July 21 and 22.
"A pair of strong cold fronts produced widespread moderate rainfall to much of the SWLD on July 27, and heavier falls to 60-80mm were recorded along and just south of the Perth hills."
Mr Lamond said trafficability for spraying and spreading had also been difficult due to the wet conditions.
"(Rainfall has had) a big impact because anything (spraying and spreading) that didn't get done up until a few weeks ago, now you can't get on the ground, so farmers are relying on air which isn't as efficient," he said.
"Again, that's why these later crops will be poor because a lot haven't been able to be sprayed or fertilised and when they're waterlogged, they don't take up nitrogen anyway.
"A lot of crops are going to end up dirtier than what we would have liked, probably a lot of crops will be underdone for nitrogen, disease has been cranking up in crops and fungicide is pretty much sold out but anyone that looked ahead and bought early would be fine."
July also brought warmer-than-average daytime and night-time temperatures for most of WA, which provided ideal conditions for pasture growth.
"Pasture growth has been sensational because it has been such a warm winter and that's why we have such a massive area of crop in because we had the early rain - so pasture growth was so good that it allowed a lot of growers to sow and extra paddock or two that they didn't need for pasture, and that has continued to be the case," Mr Lamond said.
"Sheep and cattle are all in really good condition, so it's going to be a really good spring for pasture growth and it's already started."
WA's mean temperature for July was 1.6 degrees Celsius above the 1961-90 average, making it the third warmest July on record, according to BoM.
For most of the State outside of the south west, mean maximum temperatures were above average, whereas the south west's mean maximum temperatures were close to average.
"The mean maximum temperature was 1.67°C above the 1961-90 average, the equal eighth-highest July mean maximum temperatures on record for Western Australia," BoM said.
"The mean minimum temperature was 1.52°C above the 1961-90 average, the fourth-highest July mean minimum temperatures on record, and highest since 1996 for Western Australia.
BoM said days were exceptionally warm in the north and east Kimberley in late July, resulting in several July highest daily temperature records and warmest July days on record.
A maximum temperature of 38.1°C was recorded on July 24 at Kalumburu, and on July 29 and 30 at Wyndham Airport, which is the country's second-highest July temperatures on record, behind 38.3°C at Kalumburu on July 24, 2016.
"Mean minimum temperatures were above average across almost the entire State, and it was particularly warm in the west; several sites in the SWLD had their warmest July nights on record, or warmest for at least 20 years," BoM said.
Going forward Mr Lamond said the biggest risk for crops was frost, followed by heat stress and then lack of rainfall in areas that haven't received as much so far this season.
"Some areas will need a little bit of rain in September, particularly in the north because the soils can't hold as much moisture," he said.
"Frost is probably the big thing now - we have hardly had a frost yet, while we keep getting cloudy days or fronts coming through with clouds, we have been OK.
"Also heat stress could be a concern, because the crop growth has been so good there's a lot of top on the crops and when it gets warm in August and September, they can really transpire to death if it's too hot.
"Because they have a lot of top, they need a lot of moisture underneath to keep themselves cool, so as long as there is enough moisture to support the top growth, they'll be OK."
For areas which have been the hardest hit from waterlogging, Mr Lamond said they needed some warm, dry conditions in the next few weeks.
"That'll give the crops time to recover some of the potential they have lost," he said.
"If it stays wet for too much longer, the crops won't have time to recover the lost potential."
