News section
Summer crops in Australia boosted by recent rains

Canberra, Australia
February 17, 2004

‘The recent heavy rains in northern New South Wales and Queensland came just in time to rejuvenate most crops suffering since late December from hot dry weather’, Dr Brian Fisher, ABARE’s Executive Director, said today when releasing the February issue of the Australian Crop Report. ‘These rains have also led to some late plantings of sorghum and sunflower, particularly in central Queensland and, as a result, the 2003-04 Australian summer crop is forecast to be around 3.8 million tonnes, up 32 per cent on last year.’

‘The summer cropping area is estimated to have risen by 14 per cent this season. This is despite shortages of irrigation water, which constrained rice and cotton areas at the time of planting. While the area sown to rice increased by 71 per cent to 65 000 hectares, this is still well below the 177 000 hectares planted in 2000-01’, Dr Fisher said. For cotton, Dr Fisher noted that, ‘While the total area sown in 2002-03 was 10 per cent lower than in the previous season, the area sown under irrigation declined by 32 per cent to 151 000 hectares. The area sown to dryland cotton increased over twentyfold from 2300 hectares in 2002-03 to 50 400 hectares in 2003-04.’

With the winter harvest now complete, ABARE has revised upward its production estimate for the 2003-04 Australian winter crop, to a record 39.4 million tonnes, up 22.4 million tonnes or 131 per cent from last season’s drought affected crop.

‘After a dry start to the season, mild 2003 winter conditions and good rainfall at critical times across much of the southern grain belt prolonged the growing season and boosted winter crop yields, although grain quality was a problem in some regions’, Dr Fisher said.

‘Record crops were harvested in Western Australia (15.6 million tonnes) and Victoria (6.2 million tonnes), while South Australia recorded its third largest harvest. Winter crop production was also better in New South Wales and Queensland, although below average rains, hot winds and isolated pockets of frost and disease in spring contributed to poor yields, particularly in northern New South Wales and the central highlands of Queensland’, Dr Fisher said. Late season rainfall and hail at the end of 2003 also disrupted the grain harvest in the southern cropping regions and some quality downgrading of grain occurred.

‘Australian wheat production in the 2003-04 season is now estimated at a record 24.9 million tonnes, 148 per cent up on last year’s harvest. Barley production was up 130 per cent to a record 8.5 million tonnes. Canola production increased by 93 per cent to 1.6 million tonnes on the 2002-03 harvest and pulses by 68 per cent to just under 2 million tonnes’, Dr Fisher added.

For copies of the Australian Crop Report, please visit the ABARE web site www.abareconomics.com  

News release

Other releases from this source

7762

Back to main news page

The news release or news item on this page is copyright © 2004 by the organization where it originated.
The content of the SeedQuest website is copyright © 1992-2004 by
SeedQuest - All rights reserved
Fair Use Notice