Australia's wheat and barley were sown in May. They will be ready for harvest starting in October.  Above-average rainfall was received at the national scale (+39%). The temperature was average, while the radiation was below average (-7%). Sufficient rainfall resulted in an above-average estimate for biomass (+15%). The agronomic indicators were also positive, with a VCIx of 0.89 and an increased CALF (+12%), which were both better than in the same period of last year.

The national NDVI profile also shows good conditions, which were even above the maximum from late May to early July. The VCI map also indicates that the crop conditions were overall favorable. Low values (< 0.5) were mainly found in New South Wales. The NDVI departure clustering shows that only 19.4% of the cropland remained below average throughout this monitoring period, and the others were mostly above average.

Overall, the agro-climatic indicators in the reporting period are promising. The sufficient rainfall has caused favorable conditions for wheat and barley. The above-average CALF and NDVI, and CPI of 1.19 also indicate favorable crop conditions.

Regional analysis

Australia has five agro-ecological zones (AEZs), namely the Arid and Semi-arid Zone (marked as 18 on the NDVI clustering map), Southeastern Wheat Zone (19), Subhumid Subtropical Zone (20), Southwestern Wheat Zone (21), Wet Temperate and Subtropical Zone (22). The Arid and Semi-arid Zone, in which hardly any crop production takes place, was not analyzed.

The Southeastern Wheat Zone and the Southwestern Wheat Zone both had above-average rainfall (+12%, +4%), slightly below average temperature (-0.1°C, -0.3°C), and below-average radiation (-6%, -5%), which led to above-average biomass (+6%, +6%). The CALF in the two zones were 97% (+9%) and 92% (+10%), respectively, and the VCIx were 0.91 and 0.89. The NDVI profiles further confirmed that the crop conditions in these zones were promising.

Largely above average rainfall was observed in the Subhumid Subtropical Zone (+77%) and Wet Temperate and Subtropical Zone (+64%), along with below-average radiation (-10%, -8%), while the temperature departures were opposite (-0.3°C, +0.4°C). As a result, the biomass was also above average (+31%, +26%). The CALF in Subhumid Subtropical Zone was 82%, 40% above average, and VCIx was 0.86. Meanwhile, the CALF in the Wet Temperate and Subtropical Zone was 100%, which means that the cropland in this AEZs was almost fully cultivated. The NDVI profiles were also above average starting from May in these two AEZs.

Figure 3.5 Australia crop condition, April - July 2022

(a). Phenology of major crops

(b) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI                                                              (c)  Maximum VCI

(d) Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA                                                                                    (e) NDVI profiles

(f) Time series rainfall profile (left) and temperature profile (right))

(g) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI (Arid and semiarid zone (left) and Southeastern wheat area (right))

(h) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI (Subhumid subtropical zone (left) and Southwestern wheat area (right))

(i) Crop condition development graph based on NDVI (Wet temperate and subtropical zone)

 Table 3.5.Australia's agroclimatic indicators by sub-national   regions, current season's values and departure from 15YA, April – July   2022

Table 3.6. Australia’s agronomic indicators by sub-national   regions, current season’s values and departure from 5YA, April – July   2022