About 150,000ac of Thylungra Station near in Western Qld is said to be underwater, with a slow moving monsoon trough hovering over the area this week. Photo: George Scott

A SLOW-moving monsoon trough is expected to hover over Western Queensland this week, dropping hundreds of millimetres of rain on a band from the channel country to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The weather system has already bought more than 200mm to parts of the west, with the Bureau of Meteorology’s eight-day outlook forecasting anywhere between 200-400mm. Most of the trough is expected to stay over Qld and in some parts of the Northern Territory.

The rain is already causing disruptions to cattle movements, with dozens of roads west of the Landsborough Highway already closed. Smaller sales at Charters Towers and Sarina have been cancelled this week due to the wet weather. 4000 head are still booked in to Roma tomorrow.

Disruptions are likely to be welcomed by many in the area, with the channel country floodplains providing for some spectacular imagery on social media.

George Scott from Thylungra Station, near Eromanga in Western Qld, said on Twitter/X that about 150,000ac (60,000ha) of the property was under water, in what he described as “beautiful natural irrigation”.

There is about 150,000 acres of Thylungra under water today. Beautiful gentle natural irrigation. pic.twitter.com/PJJxSAaIEH

— George Scott (@NtDrifter) March 22, 2025

Weather forecasting website Higgins Storm Chasing has described it as the “grand finale” of this year’s traditional Northern wet season.

“Well Qld this is actually it, the biggest rain bearing system of the season and likely to be the grand finale,” it said in a Facebook post.

“We have been tracking this positive phase Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) east across the Indian Ocean from Africa for three weeks and now it is here. The MJO is also expected to stall over Australia and Qld for the next week or two giving the tropics a constant steroid hit.”

As Beef Central’s fortnightly feeder market updates have been articulating, the rain has come at a time when there is downward pressure on feeder prices. Most buyers last week were talking about April delivery’s with pens being very full.

But as has been a common trend of this year’s wet season, rain systems have continually come over the north when the area is drying out and cattle are coming the market.

The season is a juxtaposition to the south, where drying out conditions are continually pushing to the market, with shortages starting to appear.

Today’s Wagga sale saw 6445 go under the hammer, with the dry seasonal conditions being the main driver according the National Livestock Reporting Service.