Southern harvest delayed by weather

Harvest has started in the south, but the cool, damp weather is slowing any meaningful progress.

Another band of showers across southern NSW dropped a general 10mm to 15mm will add to these delays.

Southern farmers are keen to see some warmer temperatures that will dry crops sufficiently.

Temperatures in western Riverina the past week have sitting in the low 20’s which is about 4 degrees cooler than normal for this time of the year.

Warmer temperatures in the northern half of the state is allowing more progress to be made in the north of the state, where harvest is well underway.

In its first harvest report for the season, Graincorp said they have received 200,000 tonnes of grain into the NSW storage network

Grain harvesting is starting to advance rapidly in other parts of Australia.

Graincorp said they have taken more than just over half a million tonnes of grain in Queensland, where harvesting is entering its final stages.

Northern grain quality has been variable.

Heavy October rain through Queensland and northern NSW has resulted in some quality downgrading in these parts, but shortages of feed grains in the north has helped to support prices.

In Western Australia, CBH has only received 400,000 tonnes of grain, which is less than half of the five-year average pace.

Similarly, South Australian grain receivals are also lagging, as the cool spring wheat slows down grain ripening and dry down.

Wheat exports from Australia have slowed significantly in recent months as global buyers respond to higher prices. Australia shipped 1.3 million tonnes of wheat in September down from 2.3 million tonnes in June.

Despite the late season slowdown in the shipping pace, Australia exported 22.6 million tonnes of wheat in the October 2016 to September 2017 marketing year, the second largest ever behind the 2011/12 season.

NSW exported 4.4 million tonnes of wheat in the 2016/17 marketing year, nearly four times last year’s pace and the most since 2011/12.

The late season slowdown in Australia’s grain exports highlights the contrasting export outlook for the coming year as trader’s tackle feed grain shortages on the east coast and sharply smaller crops in WA and SA.

Traders are reporting that key wheat importers through South East Asia remain reluctant to buy at current prices as they continue to purchase large volumes from the Black Sea.

The USDA will update its world supply and demand estimates this week where they are expected to trim its estimate on Australia’s wheat crop from the current 21.5 million tonnes.

Northern grain prices continued to soften last week, with sorghum leading the way down.