September update:
Thanks to support from John Deere, these maps are produced as close to real-time after rainfall is recorded at more than 1000 real-time rain stations across the country.
The STIN crop model is used by Agrometeorology Australia to produce a soil moisture ranking map by shire.
Commentary:
Crop yield rankings dropped in August in the northern wheatbelt of WA and for most of eastern Australia.
In far northern New South Wales rankings have fallen into the lowest 5% of years which is a serious scenario given this is the third year of drought in this region.
The standout region for crops this year has been southern Victoria where early sowing, good crop growth and excellent soil moisture reserves indicate good yield potentials.
With a favourable rainfall distribution in the wet south-west of Western Australia there has been little waterlogging, so rankings improved with good falls late in August.
Farming Ahead will continue to publish these maps online at the beginning of each month until November this year.
See the PDF document below for yield prediction maps.
