CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA — After three consecutive bumper crops, Australian wheat production in the 2023-24 marketing year is forecast to fall by 37% from the previous year’s record harvest to 25.5 million tonnes, 4% below the 10-year average, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) December crop report.
However, early October rainfall in several of the country’s key grain-producing regions led ABARES to revise its wheat production forecast slightly higher than its previous projection in September.
Total Australian winter crop production is forecast to fall 33% compared to last year’s record output to 46.1 million tonnes, which is slightly below the 10-year average, ABARES said.
Barley production also was revised slightly higher from the previous forecast but is still projected to decline by 24% year-on-year to 10.8 million tonnes.
Australia’s other major winter crop, canola, is projected to see a production decline of 33% compared with 2022-23. However, the expected output of 5.5 million tonnes is still above the 10-year average on account of planted area estimated to be the second highest on record.
