Heavy rain over late summer crops in Australia

UNEXPECTED heavy rain in southern Queensland just as sorghum and mung bean crops were due to be harvested in the past week has thrown yet another spanner in the works of what was shaping up to be the nation's best summer crop in a decade. There were unwanted falls of up to 100mm over the weekend, especially through the southern Darling Downs taking many areas to close to 200mm for the past fortnight and causing major floods on the Balonne and Condamine Rivers. While early sorghum crops harvested in the western Downs around Dalby prior to heavy autumn rain were bin-bursters, clocking in at as much as 10 tonnes a hectare, yield projections for unharvested crop will be scaled back, due to a combination of lower grain test weight and shelling, where seed is dropped onto the ground. RELATED: Big flood recovery needed in southern Queensland RELATED: Sorghum delivers windfall "Yield losses could be around that 10-15 per cent on what we were seeing prior to the rain, but it is all an ...