Wheat exports dip as farms face $3bn loss

RELENTLESS rainfall across the eastern states is spoiling crops, with wheat exports to be less this year than the previous two seasons.

The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences will today release its December forecast, which will indicate what effect record quarterly rains have had on wheat, barley and canola crops.

Mick Keogh, the executive director of the Australian Farm Institute, said while ABARES was expected to revise down its forecast of a "bumper season", its crop forecasts might not take into account the continued flooding expected across NSW.

Mr Keogh said if the Bureau of Meteorology predictions of heavy falls of up to 150mm later in the week prove correct, some waterlogged winter crops could go from being "a partial write-off to a total write-off".

Industry experts have told The Australian $3 billion could be stripped from the value of Australia's winter crops across the east coast alone. Yesterday, NSW Farmers Association president Charles Armstrong said government predictions of up to $500 million in crop losses were grossly underestimated. "The true cost of the damage won't be known until people can get back in their paddocks and survey the damage," Mr Armstrong said.

It was possible up to half of the state's $2.5bn wheat crop could be wiped out, Mr Armstrong said. "This is devastating for farmers, particularly those who have had to deal with drought the longest," he said.

The Commonwealth Bank predicts east coast wheat exports would reach about 14 million tonnes, down from an earlier forecast of 16 million and the 14.6 million tonnes exported in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

The NSW and federal governments have had talks about extending exceptional circumstances drought assistance beyond next March to help farmers whose crops have been washed away.

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally said six more council shires had been declared natural disaster zones, taking the state total to 34.

In Queensland, fruit and vegetable growers and cotton farmers are also bracing for heavy crop and equipment losses, as the floodwaters peak and recede in parts of the state's central districts. Nine local government areas in Queensland were declared disaster areas yesterday. Farmers in outlying properties in the worst-affected areas, around Emerald in eastern Queensland, were hardest hit by crop losses.

Alex Livingstone, chief executive of Growcom, the peak body of Queensland's horticulture industry, said tablegrape, melon, citrus and pumpkin growers were devastated. Mr Livingstone said one tablegrape producer had lost half of his crop, worth more than $200,000. He said it was too early to tell the extent of the damage, but said fruit and vegetable prices could rise because of the flooding.

(Source: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/wheat-exports-dip-as-farms-face-3bn-loss/story-fn59niix-1225966637996?from=public_rss)