PULSE Australia has slashed over 400,000 tonnes from its projected 2016-17 chickpea production in the wake of eastern Australia’s big wet.
After sitting at a record 1.7 million tonnes, the forecast for the national chickpea crop is now at 1.28mt.
The forecast also has flagged the scope for further downgrades in both tonnage and acreage as more becomes known about waterlogging damage as growers get back onto paddocks in the next couple of weeks.
Pulse Australia’s scheduled forecasts were delayed a fortnight as its analysts tried to come to grips with the impact of the rain, in particular across NSW.
Chairman at Pulse Australia Peter Wilson said it was a grim tale in NSW, particularly through the Central West.
“There are significant numbers of growers who are going to abandon crops and it is going to impact overall production.”
The world chickpea market, in particular the subcontinent, has been watching the situation closely to see whether any potential shortage of supply will crop up.
There is also a lot of concern among the grower community about the cost of washing out contracts.
As a result chickpea values have spiked over $200 a tonne from lows around $700/t to $930/t in the northern production zone and around $980/t in central NSW.
“Growers are getting very worried about washouts and it is really pushing the market around,” Agrigrain general manager Jeremy Brown said.
“It’s meant we’ve seen some massive volatility in the Aussie chickpea market over the past three months, from $1000/t down to $700/t and back up to close to $100/t again.”
Mr Brown said at present it was growers looking to washout and a lack of liquidity in the market that was driving the price rally rather than a shift in the fundamentals in the market.
Mr Wilson said although there were crop losses, good yields in other areas would ensure there was still reasonable production overall.
“There’s some good potential on the Darling Downs and in other parts of Queensland in particular.”
Mr Brown said growers were going in early with their washouts.
“Many of them have probably got contracts at $1000/t and they are still in the money, but they are looking to get out now before they lose money.”
In the short-term there is little further rain forecast for Queensland and NSW for the next eight days, but fungal disease is expected to be the next challenge for the industry.
Nick Goddard, Pulse Australia chief executive, said there was a severe shortage of fungicides throughout the country.
“In many cases, resellers are completely out of stock, and the only supplies of traditional fungicides in the system are those already held on farm,” he said.
He said the emergency permits for alternative products issued by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) following an application by Pulse Australia had eased the strain somewhat, but said farmers still required more fungicide than what is available.
“Growers in northern NSW who have held fungicide stock on farm and abandoned their crops have been able to return their products and provide some additional stock to the system, but we are not sure if this will be enough.”
In Central Queensland, crops are up to two tonnes to the hectare above average yields, with early crops coming in at around 3t/ha, however on the flipside, through northern NSW there is a 55pc cut in yield estimates from the previous forecast due to flood damage and abandoned crop.
That figure rises to 70pc yield losses since last forecast in the Lachlan and Macquarie Valleys in central NSW.
In other pulse crops, the lentil crop is generally looking OK, although much will depend on how much damage was sustained in this week’s storms in the lentil heartland on the Yorke Peninsula in SA.
Through Victoria there is waterlogging damage through the Wimmera, but crops look good in the Mallee.
There has been some lodging of faba beans and other crops will be lost to waterlogging but these issues are relatively isolated.
In WA, a frost has knocked some tonnage off lupin estimates, but non-frosted areas are in good condition.