Australia: GIWA forecasts a new-crop area of 8.3 million ha in mixed start

THE 2023 grain-growing season is shaping up to be one of extremes already, according to the Grain Industry of Western Australia’s first monthly report to estimate area for the winter crop now being planted. Cropped area is likely to be back to around 8.2-8.3 million hectares, a drop from 2022 of about 8 per cent. For the calendar year so far, a big swath of country in the centre of the state has received enough rain to bog machinery, while there are other growers who have received very little rain. The predicted low-decile year is certainly shaping up for some regions, while others could be forgiven for thinking they are on a different planet. Climate models are convinced it is going to be a drier-than-average winter, with sea temperatures and position of blocking high-pressure systems seeming to indicate this is likely to be the case. While it is early days, and accuracy of predictions in the past have been low for this time of year, growers in regions of the state where there ...