Another article from...

Another article from AFR.
(http://afr.com/articles/2005/02/15/1108229970076.html)


Summer crops forecast to rise 13pc
Feb 15 10:33
AAP

Summer crop production will increase 13 per cent in the 2004/05 season, the nation's chief commodities forecaster said today.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said the summer crop would be boosted by above-average rainfall in November and December in northern NSW and parts of Queensland.

The forecast is in the February issue of Abare's ifAustralian Crop Reportnf, released today.

Better seasonal conditions and water availability in northern NSW and Queensland saw a big increase in the area sown for cotton and sorghum, Abare executive director Brian Fisher said.

The area planted for cotton would increase by 59 per cent to about 315,000 hectares, while the sorghum area would be up almost 16 per cent to 659,000 hectares.

"In southern Queensland, harvesting of early sown sorghum has commenced and yields are expected to reach record levels as growing conditions have been ideal for crop establishment," Dr Fisher said.

"Later sown crops in Queensland, however, have received little rainfall, which has reduced yield potential in this region."

Abare forecasts sorghum production will rise to 2.1 million tonnes - up 13 per cent on last season. Cotton lint production is tipped to increase to 551,000 tonnes, up 58 per cent.

The rice crop is expected to be low this season with production of about 430,000 tonnes, well below the five-year average of 1.2 million tonnes.

The completed winter harvest is forecast to produce grain production of about 31.5 million tonnes, a 22 per cent fall from last year's record.

Wheat accounts for 20.4 million tonnes of the harvest, barley 6.5 million tonnes and canola 1.5 million tonnes.