October 12, 2009

Wheat production in South Australia this year could reach a record of 4.8 million tonnes set in the 2001-02, Peter Fulwood, a crop consultant to the state's Primary Industries department, said Monday (October 12).

Most wheat crops in the state have enough available soil moisture to take them through to a harvest that gets underway in earnest in November, after widespread rains in early October built on falls in September - mostly in a range 50 to 100 millimetres, he said.

The soft finish to the growing season through mostly moderate temperatures is also helping grain fill, with crops near harvest actually needing a burst of warm to hot weather to finish ripening, he said.

"There's going to be a lot of wheat around," though whether the crop is a record remains to be seen, Fulwood said by telephone.

The central government's Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics forecast for national wheat production in the crop year that began April 1 of 22.7 million tonnes includes an estimate for South Australia of 3.5 million tonnes.

Late Friday (October 9), the US Department of Agriculture pegged production from the new Australian wheat crop at 23.5 million tonnes, up 500,000 tonnes on month and up 2.0 million tonnes on actual output from last year. This would be largest crop in four years, underpinned by a likely favourable finish to the growing season in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, the USDA reported.