Australia: Rain slows the northern harvest

Storms, showers and cool weather have slowed the pace of harvest in Queensland and northern New South Wales, creating some shorts in the market. However, prompt northern prices have not reacted, with only the deferred-delivery ASW market ratcheting up. In the south, storms in parts of Victoria’s Wimmera district have caused some damage, but also brought light but yield-preserving rain to later crops, while struggling crops in South Australia have had some decent rain. Consensus is that the cutting of dry or frost-affected cereals and canola for hay is now over, and any crops left standing will now be taken through to harvest. Table 1: Indicative prices in Australian dollars per tonne. Storms and showers have rolled through parts of Qld and northern NSW this week to slow or stop harvest on many farms. Higher Qld registrations in the week to 9am today include: Capella 13mm; Clermont 9mm; Jondaryan 5mm; St George 22mm, and Springsure 6mm. Substantial falls for the week in the ...