Australia heading towards record-high winter crop planting
Australia’s farmers are heading towards a record-high winter crop planting this year, Rabobank says in its newly-released 2025/26 Australian Winter Crop Outlook.
The annual outlook, by the agribusiness banking specialist’s RaboResearch division, says the nation’s grain growers are expected to plant an estimated 24.5 million hectares of winter crop this year, up 0.8 per cent on last season.
The forecast increase is largely driven by good soil moisture levels in northern New South Wales and Queensland, as well as a “positive gross margin outlook” for most crop types.
Area planted to crops is expected to be up in all states, except for South Australia – where many regions have been struggling with severe drought conditions. Victoria – which has also been impacted by drought in many western parts of the state – is expected to see cropping area edge up only fractionally.
The overall rise in national planted area is expected to benefit most crops, except for wheat, where area is forecast to drop – especially in Western Australia – impacted by rising fertiliser prices and less optimistic market prospects.
Despite the projected overall increase in Australia’s winter cropping area, RaboResearch is currently forecasting total production for the 2025/26 harvest to come in below last year, at a “base case” of 53.9 million tonnes, compared with 59.7 million tonnes for last year’s crop.
Australian farmland values hit record high
Australian farmland values have now recorded eleven years of unbroken growth with the national median price rising to a record level in 2024 and growth observed in median prices across five of the six states during 2024. The national median price per hectare increased by 6.9 per cent to a record $10,231/ha with a total of 4.7 million hectares of land traded, representing an area larger in size than Denmark. The number of farmland sales in Australia rose 5.8 per cent to 7,154 with the combined value of transactions totalling $14.9 billion. The rebound followed an 18.2 per cent decline in sales in 2023 driven almost exclusively by the eastern states yet was still the third lowest number of national farmland sales in the past three decades.
New Indonesian school milk program set to create opportunities for Australian dairy
Australia’s dairy sector may be the beneficiary of a new school milk program being implemented in Indonesia.
Food and agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank says the program, which is currently being rolled out across 400,000 schools in Indonesia, is part of the recently-elected Indonesian government’s Nutritious Meals Program, aimed to combat malnutrition and promote healthy eating among the country’s 60 million school children, as well as in pregnant women.
The school milk program is expected to significantly increase Indonesia’s total dairy consumption, creating opportunities for Australia and other global dairy players, according to a new report by Rabobank’s RaboResearch division.
Sustainable seaweed farming the way of the future
Seaweed farming could be the sustainable solution the world has been looking for, but new research from Monash University and the University of the Sunshine Coast suggests Australia has a long way to go before it can capitalise on growing global demand.
Exploring ways to grow the fledgling industry in Australia, researchers found key improvements to farming equipment and practices could provide the kick start it needs.
Lead researcher Dr Belinda Comerford, from the Marine Evolutionary Ecology Research Group at Monash School of Biological Sciences, said seaweed cultivation could be a gamechanger to meet Australia’s net zero targets and transition to greener industries.
“We have seen global production of algal aquaculture like seaweed increase 4.3 times in the past 20 years,” Dr Comerford said.
“This is an industry with huge potential, and something a country like Australia is well positioned to leverage, with an abundance of coastal land that is suited to seaweed cultivation.
