Australian Wheat Starting To Hurt

The promised El Nino event which seems to have already kicked up a fuss in India, where monsoon rains are down 26% so far this season, now also appears to be hurting wheat Down Under.

Extreme heat over the weekend saw many parts of Queensland, New South Wales, the Northern Territory and South Australia set record August temperatures on Saturday, only to break them a day later on Sunday.

Cunnamulla, in the Maranoa, recorded 37 degrees on Sunday. That is a huge 16 above average and their hottest August day in 102 years of records. Bedourie, in the Channel Country, saw another 38 degrees, their third consecutive day above 36 degrees.

Late August would be equivalent to late May in the Northern Hemisphere, when wheat enters key developmental stages that demand heavy rainfall for the top yields, says Gail Martell of Martell Crop Projections.

Australia Needs Rain Urgently to Meet Crop Forecast