RIVERINA crops have been battered to the ground following a hail storm.
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Wheat, canola and barely, that were showing promise of bumper yields, were not spared in the storm that swept through the region near Junee.
Tony Clough farms at "Windermere," and "Brendon" and witnessed first-hand a storm that delivered a devastating blow.
He said 40mm of rain fell in quick succession and the hail that came with it bashed crops to the ground.
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"It looks like I put 1000 wethers on the paddock and grazed it," he said.
"There are two paddocks with nothing left," Mr Clough explained.
He said wheat and canola was affected and to some extent barley was damaged to.
"We got absolutely smashed over a period of 20 minutes," he said.
While the property "Brendon" was affected by the storm damage crops at "Windermere" largely escaped the storm which was estimated to come through in a strip spanning around two kilometres.
The damage has arrived at a time when crops in the region were looking fantastic due to good falls of rain.
NSW Farmers Wagga and district branch chairman Alan Brown said he had heard of large areas of crops being damaged by hail.
Mr Brown is also a crop insurance consultant. "The severity is high," he said.
In addition to the Junee area Mr Brown said there were reports of damage coming in from Barellan and Weethalle as well.
"The damage is certainly there," he said.
"And this is living proof as to why you should always insure for these events ... it is sad for people who have been hit hard," he said.
Mr Brown said the hail had come at the worst time because of the maturity of crops.
He said a storm like that meant there was nothing left.
The severity of losses in this area was expected to come to light in the next week or so as more people inspected crops.
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