Australia: Grain and Feed Update

Australian winter crops have had very challenging seasonal conditions for MY 2024/25, including low soil moisture at planting, below-average rainfall, and frost damage. Despite these difficulties, wheat production is expected to be above-average, while barley is forecast slightly below-average. The sorghum summer crop is off to an excellent start across all growing regions. Good soil moisture reserves and warmer-than-usual temperatures have led to an early start to planting. The weather outlook also encourages a higher-than-expected crop area and supports an expectation of well above-average yields for MY 2024/25. Despite generally favorable seasonal conditions leading up to planting and good irrigation water availability, rice production is projected to decline significantly. This decline follows the decision by the major entity responsible for processing and marketing the majority of Australia's rice crop to impose a disincentive to limit production to a targeted level.