Australia’s wheat harvest forecast raised to near-record level

crop, which would be the third-largest on record. The strong Australian output will add to abundant global supplies, keeping Chicago benchmark wheat prices near their five-year lows. Forecasts for barley production were also raised by around 400,000 tons to 15 million tons, which would mark a record high, while canola projections remained mostly unchanged at 6.5 million tons. Last year, Australia harvested 34.1 million tons of wheat, 13.3 million tons of barley, and 6.4 million tons of canola. Soil moisture has been mostly favorable across Western Australia, northern New South Wales, and Queensland, but remains deficient in parts of South Australia, Victoria, and southern New South Wales. Some southern farmers have cut crops for fodder after forecast rains failed to ...