Australian farmers are predicted to see their most valuable year ever with a bumper crop. Agricultural exports are forecast to hit a record US$75bn in the year to the end of June, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARES).

The Ukraine war has pushed up the price of some goods including wheat, Australia's biggest agricultural export. “We have been incredibly lucky. That high level of production is certainly due to rains, but also having rains at the right time,” Tony Bacic, director of the La Trobe Institute for Agriculture and Food in Melbourne, said.

“The stars were aligned. If the rains had come a bit later or hadn't dried out in time, we could have lost a major crop,” he added.

“Once again, we're seeing record levels of production, driven by exceptional growing conditions and high commodity prices,” ABARES' Jared Greenville said in a statement.

“National winter crop production has driven much of these results, with the winter crop estimated at a new record of 67.3 million tons in 2022-23,” he added.Prices have also been boosted by droughts in other major exporters and the war in Ukraine, which was a major supplier of cereal crops including wheat, Mr Greenville said.

Sonia Akter, a senior lecturer at the Australian National University, believes the increase in production in Australia has “outweighed the losses due to flood damage and disruption”. “However, this is likely to change next year as the climate forecasts suggest drier weather. Consistently, Australian export volumes of key food commodities are also likely to decline significantly,” Ms Akter said.