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 |