November 26, 2009

 

Southeast Australian harvest disrupted by rain

 

 

A harvest of winter crops, including wheat, in southeastern Australia has been disrupted by unseasonal rain--with more forecast in coming days, Commonwealth Bank of Australia reported Thursday.

 

"It will be too wet for meaningful harvest progress in southeast Australian wheat regions over the next few days," the bank's farm commodity strategist, Luke Mathews, said in a daily note.

 

Typically, these areas enjoy dry harvesting conditions in November and December, with higher winter rainfall tapering off through spring.

 

Meanwhile, harvest weather in Western Australia state is favourable, he said.

 

The government's Bureau of Meteorology reported Thursday that widespread rains of more than 50 millimetres fell in some western areas of Victoria state in the 24 hours ended Thursday morning, while widespread rain in a range 25-49 millimetres fell elsewhere in the region, with southeastern South Australia state also wet.

 

In the week ended Wednesday morning, all these areas received rains in a range 25-50 mm, the bureau's data show, raising concerns about grain quality.

 

The chairman of the South Australian Farmers' Federation's grains industry committee, Michael Schaefer, said farmers who can continue harvesting will be working overtime.

 

"Anyone that's got crop to reap would be very concerned, particularly with the forecast for three or more days of rain," he said in a report on Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

 

Sustained rainfall without any drying of mature crops and grain-filled plant heads can lead to a downgrading in crop quality, with loss of returns for farmers.

 

Current forecasts for the Australian wheat crop predict production of around 21 million-22 million tonnes, in broad terms around the amount produced in the crop year ended March 31.