Western Australia's grain handling giant CBH has predicted the State's harvest this year could fall one million tonnes short of the 8.5mt haul in 2007 if the nagging dry spell continues.
CBH operations manager, Colin Tutt, says the weather conditions have taken their toll on seeding operations across the Wheatbelt, with many growers forced to stop or dramatically reduce their programs.
Mr Tutt said WA was now facing the very real possibility of a 7.5mt harvest.
He said this season was taking a similar path to last year with patchy, dry conditions preventing many crops from going in the ground.
The prediction was made after Rural Business Development Corporation (RBDC) chairman Dexter Davies conducted an urgent visit to the Esperance region last week.
Mr Davies reviewed the dry conditions on farms in the area at the request of Esperance Shire president Ian Mickel, who has also written a letter to Agriculture Minister Kim Chance outlining the situation's severity and seeking assistance.
Mr Davies said the situation was serious but warned it was not a crisis "at this stage".
He warned the dry conditions were getting particularly stark for growers in the eastern part of the region, especially those with livestock.
* Extract from a full report in Farm Weekly, WA, July 17 issue.
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