Australia's wheat crop revised down on dry weather

An official estimate of Australia's 2008 wheat crop was revised down from a March estimate due to mostly dry autumn weather, but the forecast remains well up from drought-affected production last year.

Wheat production this year is now estimated at 23.7 million tonnes, down 8.8 percent from a March estimate but up 82 percent from actual output last year of a revised 13.0 million tonnes, according to a quarterly Crop Report issued by the government's Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE).

On Monday, National Australia Bank Ltd. forecast wheat production from the crop to be harvested late in 2008 at 24.3 million tonnes, down 3.2 percent from an estimate a month ago.

The lack of autumn rainfall meant many winter crops were dry sown or not sown during an optimal planting window as growers waited for rain, it said.

Widespread rainfall in early June in the eastern states provided the moisture for growers to complete intended cropping programs, it said.

Barley production this year is estimated at 7.9 million tonnes, up 34 percent on actual output in 2007, Abare forecast.

Wheat and barley are the major components of a forecast for total production of winter crops this year of 37.1 million tonnes, if achieved up 65 percent on actual output last year, according to Abare.