SYDNEY: Eighteen months after drought ravaged Australian farms, grain growers are on course to harvest a second consecutive bumper crop as global wheat prices hover near eight-year highs.
The agricultural revival has underpinned a dramatic increase in rural land prices, although the exuberant market is straining pandemic-hit supply chains hit by machinery and worker shortages ahead of the harvest window that opens next month.
"We're confident here of a good harvest but there are challenges," said Tracy Blackburn, who helps run an agricultural operation that includes wheat in central New South Wales.
"Demand for equipment is absolutely red hot; there's a horrendous waiting time."
On current projections, Australia would cement its position as a top four global wheat exporter, but could overtake the United States and Ukraine to become the second biggest after Russia if there are further upgrades.
The Australian harvest will be powered by the two major grain-growing states, Western Australia and New South Wales, where excellent planting conditions have generally been complemented by follow-up rains, according to government forecaster ABARES.
The upbeat outlook for Australian farms represents a remarkable turnaround from three years of crippling drought that only subsided early last year.
The farm machinery industry is on track to sell in excess of 16,000 new tractors this calendar year, which would be a record.
Gary Northover, executive director at Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia, said demand was so strong that there were now long delays in getting new equipment into Australia from the main tractor suppliers in Europe, US and Japan.
"If you wanted to order a tractor today, in some lines you might not see it for up to 12 months," said Northover, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic had also disrupted shipping schedules. The demand has had a knock-on effect in the second-hand market where farmers are scrambling to secure machinery. "The price of used is not far off the price of some of the new machines. As we head into harvest people are going to be desperate to get their hands on anything that works."
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