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It remains a game of two halves Down Under with conditions very dry in Western Australia state, where almost 40% of the nation's wheat is grown. In contrast if anything they've had too much rain in parts of the east, with some farmers reporting that they've had to take to the air to carry out top dressing.
WA's Grains Industry Association says that this year's wheat crop in the state will only manage to come in at 5.5 MMT, down from 8.25 MMT in 2009, and that is given "normal" rainfall for the next couple of month. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology unhelpfully stay firmly on the fence, saying that the chances of that are 50:50.
In NSW they have what one agronomist describes as "the best cropping outlook since 2003/04." March rainfall helped get winter crops into the ground in a timely manner and aided early germination, and although May was mostly dry late May and June rains have generally got the crops in much of the central and southern region looking "the best experienced for several decades," according to NSW Industry and Investment.
WA's Grains Industry Association says that this year's wheat crop in the state will only manage to come in at 5.5 MMT, down from 8.25 MMT in 2009, and that is given "normal" rainfall for the next couple of month. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology unhelpfully stay firmly on the fence, saying that the chances of that are 50:50.
In NSW they have what one agronomist describes as "the best cropping outlook since 2003/04." March rainfall helped get winter crops into the ground in a timely manner and aided early germination, and although May was mostly dry late May and June rains have generally got the crops in much of the central and southern region looking "the best experienced for several decades," according to NSW Industry and Investment.