The weather has a huge impact on crop yields and livestock markets in Australia, a major exporter of agricultural commodities.

It is now growing summer crops, such as sorghum and cotton, with the planting of much larger crops of wheat, barley, and canola set to begin around April and May.

The Bureau of Meteorology (Bom) said most of Australia has at least an 80% chance of experiencing above-average temperatures during the southern hemisphere autumn.

“Australia is on track to have the third-warmest summer on record nationally, after 2018–19 and 2019–20,” the bureau said in a statement.

There was a 60% to 75% chance of below-median rainfall across large parts of the country, including most of the states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and the Northern Territory.

But the chances of above or below median rainfall were roughly even elsewhere, such as most of South Australia and southern and central Western Australia, it added.

The vast majority of Australia’s grain is grown in Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.

Last year was Australia’s eighth-warmest year on record, which the weather bureau attributed to climate change.

Conditions swung from widespread flooding through the hottest winter and driest three months on record to heavy rainfall as the year ended.