Crops tipped for another top year

Good conditions ahead of planting could mean grain growers are in for another solid year.

High Hopes: ANZ’s April Commodity Insights report indicated this season’s record wheat crop, combined with good soil moisture, had put producers in a “very strong position.

WITH winter crop planting under way, another solid year could be on the cards for grain growers.

It comes as ANZ’s April Commodity Insights report indicated this season’s record wheat crop, combined with good soil moisture, had put producers in a “very strong position”.

“It is never predictable so we go as well as we can looking at the long range forecasts, but we are cautiously optimistic that those current forecasts are looking good in most places,” ANZ head of agribusiness insights Michael Whitehead said.

“There will be some dry places. Things can differ just a few miles apart, whether its rainfall or whether its frost later in the season as well, but overall while there has been a dry spell in some of those places recently, things are certainly looking a lot better than they were a few years ago.”

And international events are also combining to help maintain solid wheat prices both globally and domestically, according to ANZ.

“Most recent reports coming out of the northern hemisphere are of the potential cold impact on the American and Canadian crop, as well as Europe and the Black Sea,” Mr Whitehead said.

“If that cold weather comes to fruition then there could be some longer term strengthening in Australian wheat prices.

“On the other side of it, Chinese feed demand isn’t going away for the time being. If we are going to see economic recovery in a lot of places it is hard to see much downward pressure on wheat for a while.”

Meanwhile, NAB’s recent Rural Commodity Wrap also found good conditions ahead of planting could mean a good 2021-22 crop for Australia.

“Planting is now under way and the good news is that with summer and early autumn rainfall having performed, a calamitous season is already (almost) out of the question, especially in NSW,” the report said.

But the report indicated, the dry April and “mixed signals from the Bureau of Meteorology on the rainfall outlook in Victoria, South Australia and the Riverina should be watched.

“A dry winter would take the top off yields,” the report said.

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