MarketsFarm — There isn’t much in the way of significant changes in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) attaché reports on grain production in Australia and Canada.
USDA’s Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) office in Canberra pegged Australia’s wheat production for 2022-23 at 37 million tonnes, 400,000 more than the official USDA estimate. In comparison, the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARES) placed the wheat harvest at 36.6 million tonnes.
If the USDA attaché’s forecast is realized, the wheat harvest would be the largest on record. Near-ideal growing conditions in the states of Western Australia and South Australia were cited for the sizeable crop, but excessive rainfall in New South Wales and Victoria took some of the shine off of this year’s production.
Read Also
Feed Grains Weekly: Price likely to keep stepping back
As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
The Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARES) placed the wheat harvest at 36.6 million tonnes.
The attaché also bumped up Australia’s wheat exports for 2022-23 at 28 million, which would be 500,000 more than the department’s official call. Total domestic consumption was trimmed by 50,000 tonnes at 8.5 million. In the end, the attaché’s wheat carryover came to 4.261 million tonnes, only 10,000 more than USDA has forecast.
When it came to Canadian wheat production for 2022-23, the USDA attaché in Ottawa was virtually in line with the department’s current estimates. The report noted the much-improved growing conditions on the Canadian Prairies compared to the previous year.
The most notable exception in the attaché’s estimates was a 50,000-tonne decrease in total supply at 38.047 million — the difference being a small decrease in wheat imports, pegged at 550,000 tonnes.
Also, total domestic usage was trimmed by 3,000 tonnes at 8.447 million. This resulted in ending stocks being trimmed to 3.6 million tonnes.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) placed total supply for 2022-23 all wheat at 37.622 million tonnes, imports at 125,000, domestic usage at 9.022 million, and the carryout at 4.7 million.
