National wheat production plummets below ABARES prediction

Australian wheat production has taken another hit, with volumes expected to reach just over 14 million tonnes, according to a new crop report.

Volumes drop: INTL FCStone has cut national wheat production volumes to 14.45 million tonnes, compared to their estimate of 14.97 million tonnes last month.

A NEW report has cut national wheat production volumes more than one million tonnes below the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences estimates in December.

Financial services organisation INTL FCStone’s January crop report put Australian wheat production forecasts at 14.45 million tonnes compared with ABARES estimates of 15.8 million tonnes.

That volume has also dropped below INTL FC­Stone’s December report of 14.97 million tonnes.

INTL FCStone client advisor Nick Orssich said the drop in production was a combination of the whole country receiving little rainfall.

“Victoria has had a decent crop because of late rain in spring, but the rest of the country has had a horrible time,” Mr Orssich said.

“At the beginning of the season when growers were planting, they were expecting a lower crop. But not this bad.”

For total Victorian wheat production, INTL FCStone predicted volumes to be 3.47 million tonnes. National barley production is expected to reach 8.78 million tonnes.

Barley production in Victoria was lifted to 2.75 million tonnes compared with the ABARES forecast of 2.3 million tonnes because of Victoria’s good season, Mr Orssich said.