South Australia's 08-09 winter crop output down 2.9 percent on-year

Total production of winter grains in South Australia from a harvest that ended this month fell 2.9 percent on-year to 4.74 million tonnes, the state's Department of Agriculture estimated Monday.

New crop wheat production of 2.34 million tonnes was estimated little changed from the year-earlier crop while new crop barley output of 1.73 million tonnes was down 2.8 percent on-year, the department said in a monthly crop report.

Most of the crops grown in the state are available for export.

Seeding of crops was completed in May and early June followed by good rains in July and August, but dry weather in September and October stunted crop growth and weighed on yields, cutting production forecasts, it said.

Heavy rainfall in December temporarily halted the harvest and resulted in a downgrading of grain quality, it added.