GTA recognises Queensland grain stalwart

Mr Deacon has been a stalwart of the Queensland industry for many decades with his involvement through the family business Deacon Seeds and his various roles with the Queensland Produce & Seeds Merchants Association. Mr Deacon retired from the grain industry after selling the family business earlier this year.

Cold Antarctic winds made for an uncomfortable weekend across eastern Australia, with some NSW towns recording the first snow in decades. Southern Queensland was shielded from extreme cold seen in NSW and Victoria, but temperatures were sharply lower than last week.

Frosts are the latest challenge for Queensland cereal farmers. Overnight temperatures plummeted to minus 4 degrees across much of the western Darling Downs and the Central Highlands on Sunday and Monday nights.

The freezing temperatures could result in damage to developing heads in wheat and barley crops. Potential damage from the freezing temperature won't be evident for some weeks.

Southern Queensland grain markets moved higher last week on consumptive buying and strengthening values in WA.

Nearby wheat bids were $10 higher at $400 delivered into the Darling Downs while new crop positions jumped by $15 to $405. Old crop barley was up $7 to $400 delivered Downs while the new crop jumped $20 to $375.

Weakness in the Australian dollar has been supportive for WA grain prices in the past week or so. New season APW into Kwinana was up to $320 FIS last Friday up from $300 a month earlier.

South eastern Australian grain markets had a softer feel last week. Benchmark ASX wheat futures pushed higher but finished the week $5 lower at $335 after widespread rain in Victoria which extended into southern NSW.

News that Manildra Group will continue to import wheat next year also weighed on southern grain markets. Manildra has imported about 180,000 tonnes of high protein Canadian wheat in recent months, but the imports are now set to continue well into next year as the drought continues.

It's being reported that Manildra has already secured about 250,000t of Canadian wheat for the 2019/2020 season and this could climb to 500,000t by the time the season is finished.