Australia: Canola Voluntary Report December 2012

Australia’s canola production in the local marketing year (MY) 2012/13 (December/November) is forecast at 2.7 million metric tons (MMT), down about 16 percent from last year’s record production level of an estimated 3.2 MMT, but still higher than the previous record of 2.2 MMT harvested in 2010/11. Exports of canola in 2012/13 are forecast at 2.0 MMT, down slightly from the record 2.1 MMT exported in 2011/12. Although first approved for planting in 2008, Australian growers have been slow to switch to genetically modified canola, which today accounts for only about 10% of the crop.