CANBERRA: Australian farmers are on course to harvest a near record amount of wheat this season, the country’s chief commodity forecaster said on Tuesday, as it lifted its production forecast by more than 17% following recent favourable weather.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) said it now expects production during the season ending June 30, 2022 to total 32.63 million tonnes, up from its June estimate of 27.8 million tonnes. That would make the crop Australia’s second-largest for wheat, should the estimate materialise. Its record crop came last year when growers produced 33.34 million tonnes of wheat. “We’ve had excellent growing conditions throughout June and July this year, with average or above average rainfall in most cropping regions,” said ABARES Executive Director Jared Greenville.