In Western Australia, the area under wheat will be reduced

Wheat acreage in Western Australia will decrease by approximately 400,000 in 2025. ha, or by 9%. The lower availability of steam lands also contributes to the reduction of the indicator, according to the materials of the Grain Industry Association of Western Australia (GIWA).

In its first report on the new season, the association estimated that 4.19 million hectares will be sown with wheat, compared to 4.59 million hectares last year. “In 2024, large areas of steam lands were brought into circulation, which will not be available for sowing in 2025,” GIWA notes.

At the same time, the area sown with barley and canola will increase: 1.87 million hectares are expected to be sown with barley against 1.77 million hectares last year, and with canola – 1.775 million hectares against 1.65 million hectares in 2024.

The soil in the southern regions of the state has enough moisture, but in the northern regions it is dry. “The total sown area can easily reach 9 million hectares, as last year, and canola will significantly exceed the mark of 1.8 million hectares if there are rains,” the report notes. “But if May, as predicted, will be dry and hot, the sown area may decrease to 8.5 million hectares, as in 2023.”

In 2024, Western Australia produced 12.45 million tons of wheat, which is the third largest crop in recorded history. Sowing takes place from April to June, harvesting in the last months of the year. Most of the grain is exported.

Experts expect that the total production of wheat in Australia will decrease by approximately 16% in the 2025–2026 season (starts on July 1) due to drought in a number of farming areas. Analysts polled by Reuters on average expected the production of 28.6 million tons of wheat. In March, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics (ABARES) estimated production at 30.5 million tons.

Tags: wheat, Australia