Australian Bureau of Statistics Reveals Top Summer Crop Producers for 2022-23
Southern Queensland’s Wambo district has emerged as Australia’s leading producer of sorghum for the 2022-23 season, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Meanwhile, Griffith in southern New South Wales has been recognized as the major corn producer for the same period.
The ABS report highlights the top production areas for summer crops, including sorghum, corn, and rice, as well as providing insights into planted areas, commodity values, and the number of growers. For 2022-23, these summer broadacre crops collectively yielded 3.2 million tonnes, spread across an area of 800,000 hectares.
Corn production saw a significant boost, with Australia producing 387,000 tonnes valued at $161 million. This represents an increase of 80,000 tonnes from the previous year and nearly 120,000 tonnes more than in 2020-21. New South Wales (NSW) emerged as the largest corn-producing state, contributing 210,000 tonnes or 54% of the national total. The Griffith region led this growth, producing 80,000 tonnes, followed by Tocumwal-Finley-Jerilderie with 45,000 tonnes, and Kununurra in Western Australia’s Ord region with 34,000 tonnes.
The Ord region’s corn production has shown considerable variability over the years. Since the region began growing corn in 1982, production has fluctuated, with a record output of 56,000 tonnes from 5,000 hectares in 2020 demonstrating its potential. This performance contrasts with the traditional corn-growing areas of Queensland and Moree, with the latter now surpassing these regions in output.
On the sorghum front, the Wambo district in Queensland’s western Downs led with an impressive 308,000 tonnes, followed by Moree with 255,000 tonnes, and Quirindi with 201,000 tonnes. The Clermont region came in fourth with 178,000 tonnes. Overall, 2.3 million tonnes of sorghum were sold in Australia, valued at $854.8 million. Queensland was the dominant sorghum-producing state, accounting for 1.6 million tonnes from 1,300 levy-paying businesses. Together, Queensland and NSW produced over 99% of the nation’s sorghum.
Error
