Late development sees W Australian wheat "better than expected"

High test weight and improved yield from late stage development have managed to offset some of the expected losses in this year’s wheat crop in Western Australia, the Grain Industry Associates of West Australia (GIWA) said in their monthly production forecast.

Western Australia’s 2017 crop is now estimated at 7.38 million mt, an increase of 6% on last month’s forecast.

As expected, overall production is still expected to fall short of last year’s total, with GIWA saying the figure was 19% below last year’s 9.1 million mt.

The report comes in the same week as Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) said Australia’s overall winter wheat production is set to drop 42% on year to 20.27 million mt.

While Western Australia has escaped relatively unscathed from early-stage drought and late-stage flooding which affected other parts of the country, ABARES’ estimate has total production reaching lows not seen for a decade.

Geraldton was able to record the largest monthly adjustment, up 28% to 1.15 million mt – although still way down on last year 2.12 million mt.

In Kwinana, the biggest wheat producing region in Western Australia, crop development was described as “better than expected,” despite being generally coming in below the long-term average. Production was forecast unchanged on month, held at 3.43 million mt.