July 4, 2007

Some key Australian winter grain areas dry in June
 

Some of Australia's key winter grain-growing areas experienced below to very much below average rainfall in June, the government's Bureau of Meteorology reported in a monthly drought statement Wednesday (Jul 4).

June was generally a dry month in the south-west, the second year in a row with a poor start to the winter cropping season, with many areas in the lowest decile, the bureau said in a separate statement issued late Tuesday (Jul 3).

Most of South Australia and western areas of Victoria and New South Wales - all growing areas for winter grains - also posted low June rainfall totals, the bureau reported.

June 2007 was also the coldest June in Australia since at least 1950 - with this coming after the warmest May on record in many parts of the continent, it added.

The cold weather in June likely brought the strong crop and pasture growth reported in May to a near halt, as the June mean temperature was 1.54 deg C below average across Australia, breaking a previous record set in 1982.

However, heavy to flood rains removed rainfall deficits in Gippsland in the south-east, a major dairy and horticulture region, and in many other places along a broad swathe of eastern Australia, the bureau reported. In addition, above average rains fell in southern Queensland, which is also a winter grain growing area.

The rainfall reports will help build confidence among industry participants that eastern Australia could be set for bumper winter crops, which could offset the effects of dry weather in other regions.

In short, the June rainfall report is likely to increase confidence in a June forecast by the government's Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics that wheat production will recover to about 22.5 million tonnes this crop year ending Mar 31, 2008, from a drought-affected 9.8 million tonnes last crop year.