THE WHEAT HARVEST

Waipa Post, Volume XII, Issue 943, 18 May 1920, Page 2

THE WHEAT HARVEST

WORSE THAS TUB ESTIMATE

The New South Wales wheat harvest according to an official report, totals 4i million bushels, very little more than a third of the State's requirements for its-: own consumption and for seed.

This will necessitate the importation of large quantities. Though the Government Statistician was able in January last to issue a preliminary estimate- of the wheat harvest for the past season, disclosing a serious shortage in both hay and grain to meet the State's requirements, the final results as jusr, furnished by Mr H. A. Smith, were even worse than he anticipated. He now finds that 55,000 more acres failed than was expected four months ago. Of the 3,050,330 acres sown to wheat, 1,450,540 were left for grain, 715,930 for hay, and no less than 883,860 acres were fed off as having little prospective value. But 319,000 acres which were left for grain, and 84,450 for hay, ultimately failed. The production of grain amounted to 4,296,630 bushels, or 3.0 bushels per acre. This is 197,000 bushels less than was anticipated in January, and with the exception of 1902-3 is the lowest yield during the present era of wheat-growing, which began in 1897. The production of hay was 354,530 tons, or an average of about 10 cwt per acre. The recent harvest of just over four million bushels makes a poor showing against the 66,764,910 bushels produced in 1915-16, when the average yield was nearly 16 bushels per acre. Last year's harvest was 17,832,910 bushels, which was considerably below the average.