Cotton, Sorghum Regions in Australia Get ‘Handy’ Rain

By Madelene Pearson

Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Australia, the world’s fifth-largest cotton exporter, received some “handy” rain in recent days in growing areas and more falls are expected, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said.

There may be as much as 25 millimeters (1 inch) to 50 millimeters of rainfall locally in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales in the four days through to Oct. 29, Robyn Duell, a climatologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, said today in an e-mailed statement. Widespread rainfall totals of 10-15 millimeters are likely in those areas, she said.

Australian farmers traditionally plant summer crops, including sorghum and cotton, at this time of year in the eastern states of Queensland and New South Wales. Rain was needed within a month for cotton farmers to plant a bigger crop than last year, industry group Cotton Australia said Oct. 13.

“Some handy rain has been experienced in Australian sorghum and cotton regions yesterday and this morning,” the bank said in a note to clients. “Further rain is expected over the next couple of days, providing a much improved environment for planting and emergence.”

Sorghum is mainly used as a livestock feed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Madelene Pearson in Melbourne on mpearson1@bloomberg.net