The crop estimates Committee has just released the fourth area estimate and fourth production forecast for the 2017 production season of winter cereal crops. The commercial production has been revised down. The fifth production forecast for winter cereals for 2017 will be released on 19 December 2017.
Winter crop estimates
Wheat: The expected commercial production of wheat is 1,581 million tons, which is 4,5% or 74 000 tons less than the previous forecast of 1,655 million tons, mainly because the main wheat producing province, namely the Western Cape, experiences dryness. The area estimate for wheat is 491 600 ha, whilst the expected yield is 3,22 t/ha.
