Australia forecasts record wheat crop despite floods
Australia is expected to produce a bumper year of crops including record wheat production in the current financial year, the government said on Tuesday, despite the impact of widespread flooding in the country’s eastern region. Total winter crop production across the country is forecast to total 62 million tonnes, the second highest on record, according to a report from the federal Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARES). “While the spring rain has impacted production, yields and quality in some parts of the country, some states are experiencing their best winter crops on record,” ABARES Director Jared Greenville said in a statement. Wheat production, the country’s major grain crop, is forecast to reach 36.6 million tonnes in the 12 months running to June 30, 2023, a 1 percent increase over the previous record set last year, the report said.
Some 75pc of Agortime farmland conducive for large scale rice production
The Agortime Ziofe District of the Volta Region is calling on farmers and Agri-sector investors to consider the area for large scale rice cultivation. Mr. Francis Seglah, District Agricultural Officer, said the land had been discovered to have good water holding capacity of two to three months, and was thus perfect for rice cultivation. He disclosed that the Korean International Corporation Agency had recently assessed the land and attested to its universal plant support qualities. “Over 75 percent of our farmland is very good for large scale rice production to feed the entire Region and still have excess for export,” the District Director declared at the event.
With Russia, OPEC output in question, U.S. crude production ramps up
Domestic oil production jumped back to the 2022 peak level as OPEC and its allies affirmed plans to slash production through the end of the year as fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s pandemic woes continued to roil global markets. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday output for the period ended Dec. 2 climbed 100,000 b/d week/week to 12.2 million b/d. That matched a 2022 high mark that exploration and production (E&P) companies first reached in the summer, data from EIA’s latest Weekly Petroleum Status Report showed. The latest reading also easily surpassed the year earlier level of 11.7 million b/d.
Govt considers allowing exports of 500,000t sugar
The Government is considering allowing mills to ship out half-a-million of sugar instead of the one million tonnes demanded by the Pakistan Sugar Mill Association (PSMA), industry officials said. They said that the government was ready to give permission for exporting 500,000 tonnes of sugar to earn $250 million. At the same time, the government planned to keep local consumers insulated from the impact of price hikes. It should be noted that the Sugar Advisory Board (SAB), a federal tripartite recommendation body has held various meetings in the last two months to decide whether to give the export permission that the millers have been demanding. Although the SAB has not officially taken a decision, the top officials of the ministry of food security and finance ministry informed The News, “the ministers have unofficially informed and assured the PSMA to allow the export of 500,000 tonnes.”
Pennsylvania natural gas production continues to dip
Pennsylvania natural gas production from horizontal wells totaled 1.88 Tcf or 20.6 Bcf/d in the third quarter, down 0.8 percent from the third quarter of 2021, according to data from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). This marks the third straight quarter in which output did not rise on a year/year (y/y) basis, DEP said, and the strongest y/y decline in quarterly production since the publishing of monthly data began in 2015. The number of new horizontal wells spud, however, totaled 158, a 47-well increase from 3Q2021.
U.S. milk production continues to recover
U.S. milk production continues to recover. The United States Department of Agriculture’s latest data shows October output at 18.85 billion pounds, up 1.2 percent from October 2021, fourth consecutive month to best that of a year ago. The 24 state total, at 18.1 billion pounds, was up 1.4 percent. The latest WASDE projects 2022 output will total 227 billion pounds, up just 0.3 percent from 2021. Revisions lowered the 50 state September total by 13 million pounds to 18.3 billion, up 1.4 percent from a year ago instead of the 1.5 percent increase originally reported. October cow numbers totaled 9.418 million, up 1,000 head from September numbers which were revised 6,000 head higher. The October herd was up a hefty 31,000 from a year ago and 51,000 more than in January. The October 24 state count was up 42,000 head from a year ago. Output per cow averaged 2,001 pounds, up 17 pounds or 0.9 percent from October 2021. September output per cow was revised down three pounds, to 1,940 pounds.
Tea production dips due to lack of rainfall
Bangladesh Tea Board doubtful of reaching its target as production was 4.1 million kg lower in September and October, compared to same period last year. The Government has been striving to increase tea production in the country for a long time. The production goal has been set at 100 million kg in order to increase exports. However, due to low rainfall at the end of the current season, the country will fall short of this target. The Bangladesh Tea Board is doubtful of reaching the target as tea production was 4.1 million kg lower in September and October, compared to the same period last year. Traders in the country’s international auction hubs in Chittagong and Srimangal have been forced to pay a higher price for tea this year due to short supply. A total of 75.2 million kg of tea was produced in the country’s 168 tea estates until October. Tea production was 79.3 million kg in the same month the previous year. Traders fear that the downward growth in tea production will disrupt the annual production target.