Unseasonably hot winter temperatures will see the price of some vegetables drop across supermarket shelves in the coming weeks and months.
But some farmers are welcoming the warmer weather.
While the highest temperatures were felt in northern and outback Australia, records have been set across the country.
In Victoria, winter went from a cold and dark July to abnormally high temperatures in August.
John Said, CEO of Fresh Select, grows cauliflower and broccoli in Werribee, south-west Melbourne.
He said his crop was initially slow to mature but the heat has sped up the growing time and there’s now an oversupply in the market, meaning lower prices at the check-out.
He said the shape, size and colour of the vegetable could also be impacted.
“We got this massive oversupply at the moment, and we’ve got a couple of quality challenges,” Mr Said said.
“There might be some cosmetic things that don’t look the same as they used to.”
Mr Said supplies his vegetables to Coles and said the colour and shape was still within the supermarket’s specifications but that could change if the weather got worse.
If it does, his produce would be turned into vegetable powders rather than being sold fresh on shelves.
He said there would be so much produce around consumers would get low prices.
“Prices should decrease at retail level and hopefully we see some relief to the cost of living through food,” he said.
Almost perfect conditions
This week parts of Queensland have experienced temperatures 15 degrees Celsius above August averages.
Steve Hadley, senior forecaster with the Bureau of Meteorology, said Longreach in the state’s central west had recorded 11 days in a row over 32 degrees, with another five days forecast.
“It really is a record-breaking stretch,” Mr Hadley said.
He said the previous record was eight to 10 days.
“It is certainly quite warm for this time of year.”
Further east in Queensland’s Callide Dawson region, cotton growers are taking advantage of the unseasonal warm weather and planting early.
Unlike vegetable growers in Victoria, cotton growers in central Queensland are welcoming the higher-than-average August temperatures that followed widespread rain two weeks ago.
Agricultural consultant Simon Struss said the conditions were almost perfect.
“You really can’t dial up a better scenario,” Mr Struss said.
“While we normally do get a window in August, it’s never been quite as profound as this one.”
It follows a difficult season, with Mr Struss describing 2023 as the “year from hell”.
He said rainfall in the lead up to Christmas, followed by prolonged humidity meant adverse conditions for growers resulting in low yields and quality.
Mr Struss said being able to plant early was very beneficial to growers.
“A good start is highly desirable,” he said.
‘Need to be on the front foot’
Livestock nutritionist Desiree Jackson said the unseasonal heat would deteriorate pasture quality.
In some part of Queensland Ms Jackson said it had already been impacted by heavy frosts and spoiling rain.
“The feed looks quite black, which means it’s lost most of its nutrients,” she said.
As a result, some producers will start supplement feeding their animals earlier than expected, giving them feed that contains protein, vitamins and minerals lacking from the pasture.
Despite this, she said the livestock she had seen were still in good condition, but she warned farmers against complacency.
“It isn’t visually obvious for several weeks that animals are actually losing weight,” she said.
“We really need to be on the front foot.”
But supplementing feed comes at a cost.
“It’s quite expensive,” Ms Jackson said.
“Once people commit themselves to it, they can’t then go back to just feeding a dry lick unless they wean animals.”
Ms Jackson also encouraged producers to ensure livestock had access to good quality drinking water as evaporation decreased the quality.
“Everybody’s busy feeding, mustering and weaning and sometimes things like regular cleaning of trough water sort of moves further down the priority list,” she said.
“It really is a high priority though particularly on these warmer days.”
Ms Jackson said she was confident the industry would handle prolonged hot conditions even though the warm weather had started earlier than normal.
“It’s not the first time the temperature has gone up and I think people know how to manage forward,” she said.