West Australia's grain regions to receive rainfall

Grain areas in Western Australia may receive widespread rainfall next weekend, boosting farmers' confidence in planting after mostly dry conditions during the sowing period, a meteorologist said.

''There is a low developing just south of Western Australia that will pass through from Friday evening,'' Yanhui Blockley, meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology in Perth, said today, May 17. ''Rainfall in farming areas may total 10 millimetres (0.4 inch) to 30 millimetres,'' she said.

Drier weather has prevailed in Western Australia this year compared with the country's east, with farmers set to complete rapeseed planting this month and continue wheat sowing into June. Improved seasonal conditions would help boost earnings.

''There will be rain almost everywhere in Australia in the next week, so we have some optimism about what is happening in Western Australia, and that is the big question mark for all of us at the moment,'' Elders Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Jackman said.

Wheat for July delivery dropped 0.7% to US$4.68 a bushel on the CBOT at 4:14 p.m. in Melbourne, taking this year's decline to 14%. Elders gained 4.8% to A$1.09 (US$0.96) on the Australian stock exchange at the 4:10 p.m. local time close.

Western Australia's cropping region received variable rain in the past week with Newdegate getting more than 80 millimetres, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Other areas had received less than 10 millimetres and falls ranged greatly even on the same farms, Western Australian Farmers Federation President Mike Norton said.