Australian farmers are on target to produce their second largest winter crop on record in 2013/14.
But the summer crop is heading for a significant decline because of drought and low rainfall, the federal government's commodity forecaster says.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) says poor seasonal conditions have reduced the total summer crop planting area in 2013/14 by 15 per cent compared to a year earlier.
As a result, grain sorghum production is forecast to decline by 36 per cent, rice production by 22 per cent and cotton by eight per cent.
In contrast, total winter crop production is estimated to have increased by 17 per cent in 2013/14 to 44 million tonnes.
Wheat production is estimated to have increased by 20 per cent to 27 million tonnes and barley production by a total of 28 per cent.
Although canola production is estimated to have declined by 12 per cent to 3.5 million tonnes, it remains the second largest canola crop on record.
Winter crop production in Western Australia, the largest producing state, is estimated to have increased by 55 per cent to 17.2 million tonnes.
Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said the surge in crop production is coinciding with an ebb in the mining boom.
"Suddenly we're reminded that agriculture is a traditional pillar of the Australian economy," Mr Joyce said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mr Joyce said many farming communities will be doing it tough this year.
"In many cases their commitment to Australian agriculture isn't measured in years, but generations."
