Australia: Grain and Feed Update
The outlook for winter grains production in Australia from mid-2015 and beyond has been improved by more reliable rainfall. In 2015/16, the harvested area for wheat in Australia is expected to be stable at around 14 million hectares while the harvested area for barley is forecast to rise slightly to 4 million hectares. Wheat production is expected to be around 25 million metric tons; while barley production is expected to be 8.6 million tons. The outlook for summer crops is more difficult to forecast at this time, with the sorghum harvested area expected to fall to 625,000 hectares. Rice production continues to be constrained by water availability with output of around 500,000 tons possible in 2015/16 depending on weather conditions.