This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
AUSTRALIA’S autumn seasonal conditions have delivered mixed over the last months, with Queensland and NSW the only states to experience positive rainfall.
According to Rural Bank’s Insights May 2024, while winter crop planting is now underway in Queensland and NSW after rains brought favourable soil moisture, the southern states and Western Australia are still in urgent need of rainfall.
Rain is urgently needed in these southern regions to germinate existing crops and enable planting to continue, with the current dry conditions threatening canola area.
At the same time, Australian canola export activity has seen a positive increase with bulk shipments up 51% in April and is forecast to continue into May.
While global grain and oilseeds markets rebounded since mid-April, reflecting concerns about weather impacting crops in the Northern Hemisphere.
Rainfall also impacted cattle prices over April, providing a boost after a drop in the middle the of the month.
With beef exports strong over the month as growth continues in three of the four key markets, at its highest April volume since 2015.
As the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) increased 1.2 per cent month-on-month to 604c/kg, putting the EYCI 5.5% lower year-on-year.
Milk production was up 2.6% year-on-year in March, with season-to-date production at 6.55 billion litres, up 2.9% from the previous season but still 3.1% below the average.
Milk production is forecast remain in these bounds in the final three months of the season, with 2023/24 production expected to finish around 8.35 billion litres.
With Opening farmgate prices for the 2024/25 season set to be announced in the next month and expected to be around 5% lower than last year’s opening bids.
Dry conditions in Western Australia have also resulted in elevated sheep supply and lower prices, weakening sheep industry sentiment.
While export demand has returned lamb prices to five-year averages, even with slaughter levels over rent weeks sitting 32% above average.
With the National Trade Lamb Indicator up 62c/kg (10%) from the start of April to 681c/kg in early-May.
In wool, there was a decline in offers and total volume sold due to a drop off in international demand across all microns.
While Australian wool prices were up over the month with the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) ending the month with an increase of 30 cents and the EMI ended April at 1,172c/kg.
The recent 2024 Rural Bank Australian Farmland Values Report found 2023 saw the national median price for farmland increase by 6.4% to $9,575/ha, reflecting the second-lowest year of growth for the decade.
