THE country's biggest grain handler, CBH Group, has warned that Western Australia faces a 30 per cent fall in crop production because of a lack of rain in key growing regions.
The state accounts for about half of the country's wheat exports and drops in production not only dent the nation's income but lessen demand for rural services products sold by Elders, AWB's Landmark, herbicide producer Nufarm and fertiliser group Incitec Pivot.
CBH general manager operations Colin Tutt said there had been "exceptionally poor" conditions for growers in the state's south-east Kwinana region, which accounted for almost half of the grain delivered to CBH each year, The Australian Financial Review reports.
He forecast that, on current conditions, WA would produce a crop of between 9 million and 9.5 million tonnes, as much as 27 per cent below last year's 12.3 million tonnes, which was the third largest crop on record.
If dry conditions persisted the crop could be as low as 8 million tonnes, he warned.
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