Winter crop growers across NSW are reporting mixed results after a challenging season.
Some crops exceeded expectations but others were never planted.
Farmers across the state are hoping for summer rain to set them up for next season.
From taking a gamble on planting to sitting out the season entirely, New South Wales farmers are navigating a harvest shaped by drought, rising fuel and fertiliser costs and difficult decisions.
Australia's overall winter crop production is forecast to be down by about a third this year, but the state is still on track to be the second highest-producing state, behind WA.
But it has been a tale of two seasons for grain growers in north and south NSW.
Burren Junction farmer Rodney Slack-Smith took a risk many other were unprepared to take when he planted a crop after one of the driest starts to a season in recent memory.
"We got a bit of a break mid-May and we took a punt," he said.
The family planted about half of the property to crops, despite limited stored moisture and little follow-up rain.
Yields were below average but the harvest is providing some return.
Mr Slack-Smith said farming in western NSW was about accepting the cycles.
"If you farm for long enough around here you expect you get really good seasons, average…