“The total area planted to summer crops in 2008-09 is forecast to remain similar to the area planted last year,” said Phillip Glyde, Executive Director, ABARE on releasing the report.

The area planted to grain sorghum in 2008-09 is forecast to fall by 15 per cent to 722 000 hectares, reflecting a fall in the area of fallow land available and significantly lower feed grain prices.

The area planted to cotton in 2008-09 is forecast to be more than double the previous year’s planting, reflecting an improvement in key water storage levels, but will remain well below historical averages.

The area planted to rice is forecast to remain at historically low levels as availability of irrigation water for rice growing remains critically low.

“Untimely November rainfall in all states, except South Australia, has interrupted winter crop harvest and may result in a down-grading of grain quality,” Mr Glyde said.

The final size of the 2008 winter crop is estimated at around 31 million tonnes, a 36 per cent increase from 2007-08, but well down on mid-year expectations, following a poor spring in southern New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

“Australian wheat production is estimated at around 20 million tonnes in 2008-09, largely unchanged from ABARE’s October 2008 forecast, but well down on mid-year expectations,” Mr Glyde said. Mr Glyde noted this level of production is significantly more than the 13 million tonnes harvested in 2007-08.

“The poor spring also hampered the potential of barley and canola crops,” Mr Glyde added.