WA’s Geraldton Zone photographed late last month. Image: DAS

WESTERN Australia is on track for a record canola planting, as new DAS Grain Intelligence data shows Australia’s early winter crop start is now resulting in the season’s earliest ever crop type signals.

The latest DAS Crop Estimates report shows 2.3 million hectares (Mha) of canola detected in WA, above the 2022 record of 2.2Mha.

The estimates are the earliest DAS has produced for a winter-cropping season, made possible by the early break across southern Australia, which brought crops through establishment earlier than usual.

Across Australia’s 33.8Mha of potential winter-cropping land, 20.4Mha, or 60 percent, had reached establishment by June 26, well ahead of both the 2020-25 average for this point in the season at 17.4Mha, and the 13.9Mha established at the same time last year.

“We don’t normally publish individual crop area estimates this early,” DAS Earth observations lead Sam Atkinson said.

“The crop usually has not developed enough to be reliably differentiated in satellite imagery, but the early break has brought enough crop through establishment that both canola and lentils are already visible at scale.”

A crop of canola nears full flower in the Cascade district, west of Esperance in WA. Photo: Paul Carmody

“The WA canola number is the one that stands out.

“It has already passed the previous record, and there is still growth expected in the central and eastern Kwinana South zone that should come through over the next few weeks.”

WA is now 62pc established, up sharply from 39pc a fortnight earlier, bringing the state back into line with its historical pace and just ahead of the same time last year.

South Australia is now 82pc established, compared with 10pc at the same time last year and a 2020-25 average of 40pc for this point in the season.

DAS said SA has no recent historical analog, with the nearest season still 29 percentage points away on a trajectory basis.

Victoria is 71pc established, well ahead of its 2020-25 average of 36pc and far above the 23pc established at the same time in 2025.

“The early break gave SA and Vic growers a better opportunity to get crops established at their chosen timing.

“That is important due to the predicted dry finish later in the season thanks to the forecast El Niño.”

The latest data also shows the national season remains uneven.

New South Wales is 48pc established, slightly behind its 2020-25 average of 52pc, but ahead of the 43pc established at the same time last year.

Southern NSW is tracking well, while north-west NSW remains 15-30 percentage points behind average in several major cropping districts.

Queensland remains the furthest behind its own history, with 24pc of paddocks established compared with a 2020-25 average of 49pc, and 61pc at the same time last year.

However, Central Qld is running ahead of average, contrasting with the later start in southern Qld.

“The national number hides the variation we see in the state-by-state breakdown.”

“Southern Australia is well placed, WA canola is the strongest crop-type signal so far, and the north is still mixed.

“North-west New South Wales and southern Queensland remain the areas to watch.”

DAS said crop estimates will continue to be refined as more paddocks establish and crops develop further.

Source: DAS