Rain starts to break through Darling Downs dome

More than half a year to be exact.

But in the final hours of Ian's birthday on Wednesday night, a shower finally broke through the imaginary dome that had withheld solid rain since May last year.

"We had 30mm last night so we are smiling today but we are still going to feed the cows now," Ms Atthow said.

"We don't know when it's going to rain next and you've just got to get some grass to grow, but it's a bit better day."

The couple own Shingle Hut at Millmerran and after receiving 61mm in the middle of May last year, the property had only recorded two falls of 23mm since then.

As much of the state watched as wet forecasts finally delivered in the last few weeks including the town of Millmerran, anything in their direction seemed to pull up at their fence line.

"Storms would come, split and go around us," Ms Atthow said.

It had been so long that she was reaching for her rainfall chart to remember exactly when they'd emptied their rain gauge.

In October they made the decision to truck 600 head of cattle to Blackall where they were put on the road with drover Terry Hall.

Their breeders, predominantly registered stud cows, were fed at Shingle Hut.

"It's the first time we have put cattle on the road," Ms Atthow said.

"We deliberated about it and talked to a lot of people about it because it was a huge decision and the market was so ordinary at the time that we couldn't afford to sell but, in saying that, it was a great expense to truck them out there.

"It was a big risk but Ian has seen them...and he was happy with how they looked and how they were going."

Their cattle are with a mob from Goondiwindi where rain has now been received.

The droving team is heading back south now but the Atthows are yet to decide if they will sell their cattle into a saleyard like Roma.

"We dry planted summer crop on the hope that we were going to get some wet weather but that hasn't paid off but you've got to look ahead and hope, maybe we will get some winter crop in moving forward because in this region you start getting the ground ready for oats in March," she said.

Ms Atthow said they were grateful for their friends who regularly checked in on them.

"You've just got to keep having positive thoughts," she said.

The Atthows have been at Shingle Hut for close to eight years and enjoyed one summer rainfall and two lots of winter falls in that time.

They are hopeful this week's change could be the start of more follow up falls.

"It's just got to do it (rain) again now...not wait eight months for another substantial fall," Ms Atthow said.