Australia cuts 2017-18 wheat forecast to 8-year low.

Australia cut its forecast for 2017-18 wheat production by nearly 10% to an eight-year low, as dry weather cuts yields across the country’s largest producing regions. With harvesting set to begin in coming months, wheat production is expected at 21.64 million tonnes, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences said, down from a March forecast of 23.98 million tonnes. The August U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast pegged Australia’s crop at 23.5 million tonnes. This would represent a one-third decline from 2016-17, when production of Australia’s largest rural export hit a record 32.64 million tonnes.