Included in the latest edition of the National Australia Bank (NAB) Agribusiness Commodities Wrap, released today, forecasts reflect a 2 per cent increase on NAB’s September outlook.

Grains are the ‘Commodity in focus’ for the October, with a detailed review of the global outlook and how this will affect Australian farmers.

NAB’s general manager of agribusiness, Khan Horne, said at this point, the big winners appear to be South Australia, the Wimmera and southern Mallee, Victoria.

“Our customers and bankers in these areas are telling us that their production forecast is the highest in recent years,” Khan said.

“Unfortunately, not everyone was as lucky and it’s been a tough finish for Queensland and New South Wales, with rain coming too late for some and others missing out completely.

“Globally, the harvest has been good, with this year’s world wheat crop estimated at 668 million tonnes – the second highest on record.

“However, this is not great news for our farmers, with grain prices not looking as positive as they did earlier in the year due to both a recent rallying of the Australian dollar and a fall in wheat futures over the past few months.

“Positively for dairy farmers, world milk prices have improved since the early 2009 lows, with whole milk powder now around 60 per cent higher than in July.

“Other than the continued challenges that we are facing from weather and rainfall, the rallying dollar is the second biggest challenge in terms of prices for the Australian farmer,” he said.