Oct 31
Warning of dire wheat harvest
Prolonged drought is expected to cost the nation’s 30,000 wheat growers at least $4 billion worth of crops this harvest. The grim forecast came from Australia’s top agricultural forecaster, The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics. ABARE cut the wheat forecast down to 12.1 million tones, from the expected forecast of 15.5 million tones – down 22 per cent. ABARE also believes the drought will affect the barley harvest and predicts the yield will now be five million tones compared with the 5.9 million tones it predicted in September. The canola harvest will fall 200,000 tonnes to 900,000 tonnes.
