Crops fought harsh summer: report
- From: AAP
- February 15, 2013
AUSTRALIA'S crop farmers are gearing up for a better than average harvest despite a summer of scorching heat, bushfires and widespread flooding.
The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) forecast total summer crop production to be about 4.8 million tonne.
This is down 13 per cent on last year's record crop, but that's not surprising when factoring in the heatwaves and below average rainfall across the major cropping regions throughout summer.
ABARES executive director Paul Morris said the massive rains in late January should benefit late sown summer crops, but came too late for those planted earlier.
Some cropping regions were spared the worst, with the floods only causing minor damage, he added.
"Crops have withstood challenges of hot and dry seasonal conditions and the recent severe flooding, and are set to improve with increased rainfall in the coming season," Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig said in a statement.
Production of grain sorghum, cotton lint and seed fell, but rice is forecast to rise by 15 per cent to around 1.1 million tonnes.
ABARES found most farmers managed to complete harvesting their winter crops before the natural disasters of summer set in.
Winter crop production is estimated to have fallen in 2012-2013, but was still better than what was expected in late 2012.