Drier conditions has led to a more than 25 percent dip in Australia’s winter crop production figures.
The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data shows the winter broadacre crop production sold in 2023-24 fell 27 percent to 50 million tonnes.
ABS Head of Agriculture Statistics Rob Walter said the fall led to a 29 percent drop in value, to $18.7 billion.
“After having one of the best seasons on record in 2022-23, the drier conditions across large parts of Australia lead to 27 percent less winter broadacre crop production being sold nationally and generally lower yields,” Mr Walter said.
He said wheat, barley and canola made up 93 percent of total winter crop production sold and was valued at $16.5 billion.
“There were 28 million tonnes of wheat sold in 2023-24, a 32 percent fall from 2022-23.
“The local value of wheat fell 35 percent in 2023-24 to $8.8 billion.”
Mr Walter said Australia produced 29.9 million tonnes of sugarcane in 2023-24, 2.7 million tonnes less that in 2022-23.
“Despite this, local value rose by $692 million to $2.2 billion off the back of strong sugar prices.
“The Burdekin region produced around a quarter of Australia’s total sugarcane in 2023-24 at 7.8 million tonnes.”
