AUSTRALIA (19 February)
The estimate of the 2002 aggregate winter grain production have been revised downward since December, largely as a result of poorer than expected outturns in Western Australia and South Australia. Countywide, the 2002 winter grain crops have been devastated by severe drought, and in the ABARE February crop report, the total winter grain production in 2002 is now put at 15.4 million tonnes, down 61 percent from the previous year’s record crop and the lowest harvest since 1982. Of the total, wheat is estimated to account for 9.4 million tonnes, 62 percent down from 2001. The 2003 summer coarse grain crop also looks set to be affected by the drought. ABARE reports that the total area planted to summer maize and sorghum crops is just over 500 000 hectares, about 40 percent down from the previous year 20 percent less than the average of the past five years. Yield prospects are also poor unless significant rainfall arrives soon for the developing crops.