November 14, 2008
Australia slashes grain forecast by 11.4 percent
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resources Economics (ABARE) has cut its forecast for the nation's wheat crop by 11.4 percent to 19.91 million tonnes because of dry spring conditions in south eastern Australia.
ABARE said the WA wheat crop would be 1.7 million tonnes higher than last year at about 7.8 million tonnes, despite some frost damage.
The barley crop has also been impacted by the dry conditions, with ABARA now predicting a harvest of 6.3 million tonnes, down 20 percent than the previous forecast in September.
The rapeseed forecast has also been cut by 320,000 tonnes since September to 1.3 million tonnes.
