SYDNEY, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- The gross value of Australia's farm production is forecast to rise by 6.1 percent to surpass 60 billion Australian dollars (44.8 billion U.S. dollars) for the 2016-2017 period, the latest industry figures showed.
The latest forecast would be about 16 percent higher than the average of 52 billion Australian dollars over the five years to the 2015-16 period in nominal terms, Peter Gooday, acting executive director of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Export earnings from farm commodities are forecast to increase by 6.7 percent to 47.5 billion dollars in 2016-17, following a modest increase of 1.4 percent in 2015-16 to 44.6 billion dollars," Gooday said.
"The gross value of crop production is forecast to increase by 14.7 percent to 31.7 billion dollars in 2016-17.
"This is due in part to recent record high winter crop production of 52.4 million tonnes and forecast increases in the gross value of horticulture and cotton production."
The agricultural commodities for which export earnings are forecast to rise in 2016-17 are wheat (up 25 percent), wool (3 percent), sugar (23 percent), wine 3 percent), barley (15 percent), cotton (56 percent), chickpeas (74 percent), lamb (4 percent), canola (33 percent) and rock lobster (6 percent), said the ABARES statement.
The rises are expected to be partly offset by predicted falls in beef and veal (down 17 percent), live feeder/slaughter cattle (17 percent) and mutton (12 percent). Export earnings for dairy products are expected to remain the same.
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