RAIN fell in the northern areas of NSW and across southern Queensland yesterday but most farmers had to watch the showers on television.

The Darling Downs, Brisbane and the Gold Coast were all drenched and there were falls on the parched New England tablelands of between 15 and 30mm, with scattered falls of up to 25mm as far west as Walgett.

But falls of less than 10mm in the upper Hunter region north of Sydney barely settled the dust.

The highest falls in the country were at Dunollie in the Burnett River Basin northwest of Gympie in Queensland, which got 104mm to 9am yesterday.

Much of the rich agricultural districts of Darling Downs and the Granite Belt also received good rain.

Tweed Heads had the highest fall in NSW with 62mm.

Farmers have been quick to point out that the rains were confined largely to coastal areas.

Executive director of the Queensland Farmers Federation Brianna Casey said the Gold Coast’s nursery and gardening would be “most pleased”.

“Those lucky enough to be in Brisbane are enjoying the rain, but a lot of the state is just watching it on the news and wishing they were under it. Unfortunately, a lot of the rain is not going to the areas that most desperately need it.”

President of the NSW Farmers Mal Peters said only the top northeast corner of the state got any decent rain. “It hasn’t penetrated into the cropping areas,” he said. “A significant number of farmers have not been able to plant their winter crops, and the window of opportunity has now passed. These rains are absolutely not drought breaking.”

Senior forecaster with the NSW Bureau of Metereology Elly Spark said the rain was almost all gone by 9am yesterday, with the upper atmosphere conditions that created the rain heading straight out to sea.