More Australian Wheat Downgraded

More heavy rain in NSW is leading to further quality downgrades for wheat, although aiding the outlook for a promising sorghum crop in 2009.

Each of the three major rain events in the past month have led to further downgrading of what had been a promising wheat crop, according to one trader.

"A lot of it was durum. That's been dominating the market for some time," he said.

"The estimates are that there's probably one to 1.3 million tonnes of downgraded wheat either feed wheat or AH Nine Wheat in northern NSW. It's an unfortunate situation."

But he says it is a different story for summer crop growers, with sorghum heading for its second big season in a row.

"It's in extremely good condition with all this rain and the mild temperatures. It's ideal for sorghum," he said.