The dark clouds begin moving in above, the humidity from the oncoming rain causing farmer Paul Soares to look to the sky with worry. Paul begins to explain the ever-changing weather conditions he deals with all year round.

“You’ve got no control of the elements, that’s what makes it stressful,” Paul says.

This year’s forecasted weather has worried a lot of farmers in the region. Paul says it has been one of his worst years on the farm.

Paul’s farm sits on the outskirts of Mooroopna, in the Goulburn Valley. He lives on the farm with his wife and two children.

Paul begins to explain the effects of the weather on his farm’s production.

“You’ve gotta make the product to spec, which isn’t always achievable if the weather’s not right,” he says.

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation is a weather event that is currently affecting farmers across Victoria. For those in the Goulbourn Valley, a dry winter has meant that harvest came early, with Paul raking his hay crop to dry for bales only to experience rain this summer season, wetting the hay and jeopardising his product.

Paul is originally from Portugal, part of a migrant family with farming ancestry.

“We’ve been on farms all our lives; my uncle had an orchard, and we decided to buy our own in 2002,” he says.

Before his full-time work on the farm began Paul was a dryer operator for Tatura milk. He talks about the difference between shift work and full-time management of his farmland.

As the summer harvest season approaches, farmers are preparing for the long days ahead.

“In summer,” Paul says, “they’re big days, they’re long days.”

This story is part of a project exploring regional Victoria and the issues farmers are facing. See the whole collection here.