CANBERRA: Wheat growers are expected to escape the worst effects of an El Nino, according to the commodity forecaster, which raised production estimates in the wake of a soggier-than-expected winter, with more rain to come.
Wheat production is expected to top 25 million tonnes in 2015-16, up from the 23.6 million forecast in June, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences said.
The increase comes despite the Bureau of Meteorology expecting El Nino – a weather pattern caused by warming water in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America – to peak before Christmas.
A Department of Agriculture spokeswoman said warm sea temperatures in the Indian Ocean were likely to offset the El Nino weather phenomenon and help create wetter-than-average spring rains and increased wheat production.
“The BOM has described the combined effect of this unusual set of circumstances as presently being a major influence on seasonal conditions in Australia,” the spokeswoman said.
