The last significant rainfall had been 50mm on February 8.
Further north Oturoa Rd farmers Mark and Sophie Dibley have had 310mm in the past 10 days, including 160mm in one 24-hour period last week.
The dry spell was nowhere near the conditions of last year's drought, Mr Shaw said.
"This year has been nowhere near as dire, we haven't had a drought this summer, the dry spell hasn't lasted as long and the dry weather has come much later.
"It [rain] is just magic, it was perfect rain, the best we could have had because it didn't come all at once but in small bursts over 10 days."
With the temperatures still in the double figures, grass growth was on track to provide decent cover through the winter and spring.
Last summer's drought caused winter soil moisture to be lower than normal, he said.
Soil moisture levels were up after last weekend's rainfall, he said.
"It has set us up for the winter," Mr Shaw said.
"If the rain had come a month later the growth period would have been much shorter and the grass cover less.
"It's the best Easter rainfall around here for years."
An 11ha oats crop planted 10 days ago was "rocketing".
The Shaws and Dibleys had prepared for a long dry spell, stockpiling supplements and silage.
"It meant we had a huge safety net if anything went wrong," Mr Shaw said.
A new feeding system, and planting maize for the first time in many years had offset conditions which were as dry as last year, Mrs Dibley said.
However average annual rainfall was dropping on both farms.
"My father has always said to budget for a six-week dry spell, now we are budgeting for a two to three-month dry spell," Mr Shaw said.
"It is getting warmer over the past six years, we are not getting the snap frosts so often and the summer rainfall is more variable.
"We are living rainfall to rainfall."