Australia set to harvest bigger crops after rains defy El Nino

CANBERRA: Australia is poised to produce much more wheat and other crops this year than previously thought after rainfall confounded expectations that an El Nino weather pattern would maintain dry and hot conditions, analysts and industry associations said.

Australia is one of the world’s biggest agricultural exporters, shipping goods from wheat and barley to cotton and beef. The scale of the weather turnaround has been striking, with the driest three-month period on record between August and October giving way to what some landowners say is their greenest summer in memory.

While rain has caused some flooding and crop destruction, higher overall production should lift the value of Australian farm output.