La Nina wet weather to allow sorghum seeding

Heavy storms associated with the tail end of ex TC Imogen resulted in falls of 30mm to 75mm across the Central Highlands with isolated falls of more than 150mm in some of the southern parts. It is a timely rain for CQ farmers where more sorghum is expected to be seeded as soon as the paddocks dry.

Southern Queensland recorded beneficial storms ranging from 50mm to 100mm. Farmers welcomed the rain but would like to have seen the rain earlier.

Abnormally dry weather in October and November has stressed and stunted early planted sorghum crops and dented yield expectations.

La Nina has likely reached its peak in terms of sea surface temperatures, but the impacts are expected to continue through the summer, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. This should translate to a continuation wetter than average patterns seen December and January, the bureau said.

Australian grain exports kicked in November, as new crop supplies begin to flow into overseas markets, according to the latest government trade data. About 517,000 tonnes of wheat was exported from Australia in November, up from 363,000t in October.

Indonesia was the largest wheat destination with more than 118,000t followed by Vietnam and the Philippines.

More than 92,000t of wheat were exported from Queensland in November which was the largest monthly state shipments since April 2017.

Shipping stem data shows that barley exports are off to a strong start, despite the absence of Chinese demand after Beijing imposed an 80 per cent tax on Australian supplies. Australian barley appears to be uncovering new demand from Middle Eastern and Asian buyers.

Exporters are reporting continued strong demand for Australian wheat and barley after the massive 2020 harvest and are showing confidence this pattern will continue into the middle of 2021.

Global wheat markets have remained well supported in recent weeks, before the implementation of a $35 a tonne export tax by Russia on all wheat exports from February 15 to the end of June.

Southern Queensland grain markets were steady to firmer last week. Bigger gains were seen in the export oriented states of WA, SA, and Victoria, where wheat prices jumped $5 to $15/t with barley up $5 to $8.