{"id":59359,"date":"2026-05-18T21:11:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T01:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/australias-farmers-hit-by-iran-war-costs-and-dry-weather-grow-less-wheat\/18\/05\/2026\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T21:11:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T01:11:00","slug":"australias-farmers-hit-by-iran-war-costs-and-dry-weather-grow-less-wheat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/australias-farmers-hit-by-iran-war-costs-and-dry-weather-grow-less-wheat\/18\/05\/2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia’s farmers, hit by Iran war costs and dry weather, grow less wheat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Peter Hobson<\/p>\n
BROCKLESBY, Australia, May 19 (Reuters) – Justin Everitt is planting 50% less wheat this year than he thought he would.<\/p>\n
Standing in muddy brown boots and jeans by his tractor and 11-metre-wide (36-foot-wide) seeding rig in a bare field, the 44-year-old said a lack of rainfall and rapid increases in fuel and fertiliser prices due to the war in Iran had ripped up his sowing plans.<\/p>\n
He is one \u200cof thousands of farmers across Australia deciding to plant less wheat and spread less fertiliser.<\/p>\n
Their choices \u2013 and the likelihood of a dry growing season for many – mean Australia, the third-largest wheat exporting nation, may have as \u200cmuch as 10 million tons less to ship in the upcoming season, an amount equivalent to 5% of annual global exports.<\/p>\n
Everitt, whose family has farmed near Brocklesby, 300 km (185 miles) northeast of Melbourne, for six generations, said he had never before made such radical changes to his cropping plans.<\/p>\n
“Every indicator \u200bis pointing towards lower production,” he said.<\/p>\n
A smaller harvest in Australia would reduce global wheat supply and put upward pressure on prices, which have already begun to rise.<\/p>\n
Australia is the first major grain exporter to plant wheat since the beginning of the Iran war, which throttled exports of fuel and fertiliser from Gulf nations. Other countries are also likely to grow less, shrinking food supply further.<\/p>\n
Reuters interviewed 18 farmers across Australia. In the driest areas, most were sharply scaling back planting. Nationwide, many were switching from wheat to crops like barley or canola that either need less fertiliser or sell for a higher price.<\/p>\n
Forty kilometres west of Everitt’s farm, near the town of Corowa, Anthony Black said he would sow 20% less wheat and use one-third less fertiliser than he \u200cplanned. With dry conditions, he expects to harvest around 40% less wheat.<\/p>\n
There isn’t money \u2060in his budget to absorb a doubling in the price of urea, a key nitrogen fertiliser, he said. “It’s just not there.”<\/p>\n
WHEAT SUPPLY PRESSURE<\/p>\n
Six agricultural analysts said the amount of Australian land planted with wheat would fall by between 7% and 20% from last year, potentially removing the grain from an area nearly the size of Belgium.<\/p>\n
The harvest, due towards year-end, could be between 16% \u2060and 41% smaller, the analysts estimated, shrinking from last year’s roughly 36 million tons to as low as 21.3 million tons, if the most pessimistic estimate proves correct and dry conditions extend their grip.<\/p>\n
The next major wheat exporters to sow crops are Argentina, where the Rosario Grains Exchange said farmers facing high costs would plant 7% less wheat and harvest around 37% – or 11 million tons – less than last year, and Canada, where spring sowing is lagging its usual pace and analysts expect lower output.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n