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- Widespread rainfall in Victoria during May allowed significant planting to occur on reasonable soil moisture. However, planting has now stopped due to lack of any follow-up rain, with up to 80 per cent of the crop sown in the Mallee and up to 70 per cent sown in the Wimmera now needing rain for crops to germinate.
- Up to mid-June there has been little or no additional rainfall across Victoria except for east Gippsland and the ranges, with the last decent fall being in early May for other areas. Victoria had its coldest May since 1970 and the combination of dry soils and heavy frosts are stressing early sown crops, which is expected to result in yield penalties.
- The area sown to winter crops in Victoria is forecast to decline by 2 per cent in 2006 07, to 2.73 million hectares. Although some continued dry sowing has been reported in some districts, an additional 15–25 mm of rainfall is required before sowing can be completed.
- The area planted to wheat in Victoria is forecast to decline by 2 per cent to around 1.25 million hectares in 2006-07. Assuming a return to average yields, 2006-07 wheat production is forecast to be 2.6 million tonnes, 3 per cent lower than in 2005-06.
- The area planted to barley in Victoria in 2006-07 is forecast to decline by 3 per cent to 905 000 hectares. Production is forecast to fall to 1.8 million tonnes a 12 per cent decline on the previous season, reflecting the reduced area sown and lower yields than last year.
- Canola production in Victoria is estimated to reach 408 000 tonnes in 2006-07, a 21 per cent increase when compared with 2005-06. Area planted to canola is forecast to increase by 7 per cent to 240 000 hectares, reflecting earlier timely rains that allowed an early start to planting. Across most regions, early sown canola is up and looking good. However, late planted canola is waiting for further rainfall to germinate.
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| Victoria winter crop estimates, 2006-07 |
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Area |
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change from |
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Area |
f |
Yield |
f |
Production |
f |
2005-06 |
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`000 ha |
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t/ha |
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kt |
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% |
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| Wheat |
1 250 |
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2.10 |
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2 625 |
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-2 |
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| Barley |
905 |
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2.00 |
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1 810 |
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-3 |
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| Canola |
240 |
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1.70 |
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408 |
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7 |
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| f ABARE forecast. |
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 download excel file |
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