READ THE FULL REPORT HERE.
- Gippsland is asking for drought relief assistance. West Gippsland leaders have backed a Victorian Farmers Federation call for a reduction in council rates. Read more here (paywall).
- Victorian farm prices have declined to a three-year low amid tighter margins and dry weather, which have affected buyer confidence. Read more here (paywall).
- Southern crops across NSW and VIC are bracing for rain across the next fortnight to finish crops and grow pasture, while southwest croppers are having a bumper season.
- Grain experts suggest September and October are taking their toll on crops in southeastern Australia.
- Crops in parts of Victoria and NSW are already being cut for hay as forecasts for spring rain failed to eventuate. Some crops in the North and North West of Vic are three weeks behind, and just flowering, with daily temperatures exceeding 30 °C.
- Low grain prices continue as a higher percentage of cereal crops are being turned into hay.
- Agronomists and grain traders warn that low-yielding canola crops are a real risk in southern NSW and Victoria, with some canola crops struggling, and farmers facing the prospect of low yields. Dryland crops have suffered from moisture stress, making this year an extremely disappointing season, with no finish at all. (WT, 15.10)
- Recent reports from the Agriculture Victoria soil monitoring show that wheat and barley roots are now drawing on moisture from 700mm and deeper in the profile, with many Mallee and Wimmera crops relying on the small moisture carryover from earlier rain during the past three years. (WT, 15.10)
- The BOM’s weekly agriculture and climate water update reports that while harvesting grain is preferred in the Eastern wheat-sheep zone, the impacts from warm weather and very much below average soil moisture are likely to lead to many cereal crops being cut for hay; where there is adequate biomass to do so, in addition to producers having access to a sales market. Growers who originally planned for a wet spring have had to adjust their irrigation and water-use plans.
- In southern NSW and the Riverina, vast amounts of wheat and barley have been cut for hay, with the season failing farmers, according to some reports, with hay prices predicted to drop by as much as 60% from July’s record.
- New GRDC data show that Australia has lost 3,000 grain farms over the past two years, but production continues to rise as larger, more efficient businesses dominate the sector.
- As the season dries up, farmers have begun delivering grain to depots across the eastern states, with 200 tonnes recorded in Victoria, 46,700 tonnes in New South Wales, and 537,000 tonnes in Queensland.