Australian Crop Forecasters cut its forecast for the country's 2008/09 wheat crop by as much as five percent on Monday as hot weather parched crops in the south-east grain belt during the weekend. ACF, a private consultancy, now expects a total crop of 19-20 million tonnes, down from 20 million forecast a week ago.
Gavin Warburton, an analyst at ACF, said the new forecast was still being finalised, but was likely to be closer to 19 million tonnes. "It was very hot and windy in the south-east with more reports of crops that won't make it through to grain," Warburton said. ACF'S forecasts are based on surveys of industry participants, its private database, physical inspections and on-the-ground contacts.
The consultancy is among a number of forecasters to cut crop estimates from around 24 million tonnes early in the growing season. On-line agribusiness firm Efficient Farming said on its website it was predicting a total crop closer to 15 million tonnes, based on farmer reports.
It said poorer crops in parts of southern New South Wales state, Victoria state and South Australia, as well as frost that affected areas in Western Australia, had caused the reassessment. Efficient Farming also reported many farmers planned to warehouse grain with the intention of waiting for volatile markets to settle before selling.
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