Fed: Lack of rain affects summer plantings

AAP General News (Australia)
12-08-2009
Fed: Lack of rain affects summer plantings

CANBERRA, Dec 8 AAP - Lack of rainfall in NSW and Queensland has prompted the nation's
commodity forecaster to predict a 10 per cent drop in summer crop plantings.

Areas planted to grain sorghum will total 637,000 hectares, compared to 754,000 hectares
last season, the latest crop report from the Australian Bureau of Agriculture Resource
Economics (ABARE) shows.

But rice plantings are expected to more than double from 8,000 hectares to 18,600 hectares
due to the increased availability of irrigation water.

Cotton crop plantings are also expected to increase by 24 per cent to 203,000 hectares,
even though irrigation water remains a problem in most cotton regions around the nation.

Winter crop production is expected to be higher than 2008-09 but below ABARE's September
2009 forecast.

"Conditions deteriorated over spring in Western Australia, Queensland and, in particular,
central west and southern New South Wales," ABARE spokesman Terry Sheales said in a statement.

Winter crop production in New South Wales has been revised down significantly from
earlier forecasts, partly offset by improved growing conditions in South Australia and
Victoria.

The final size of the winter crop is expected to be at 35.7 million tonnes, an increase
of six per cent from 2008-09.

AAP srj/rl/maur

KEYWORD: ABARE

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