With benefit of an early break and mild weather, grain crops are off to a cracking start, causing a number of unique outcomes.

According to agronomists near Jerilderie, roadside wild oats are coming into head and some cereal crops are more than 30 days ahead of normal maturity.

Soil moisture readings from Agriculture Victoria taken in late June show that only four of the 17 probes in the network are reading a total soil profile capacity of less than 75 per cent with the majority reading 100 per cent.

While there is a range of sowing dates, in general the early start and the healthy soil moisture levels are reducing the risk of the drier than normal conditions forecast from the current high profile El Nino event.

In good years such as this there will be some moisture accumulating in some heavier soils and yellowing of lentils may be an issue in some areas.

With the March and April sowing dates and advanced maturity, barley paddocks between Durham Ox and Serpentine have achieved canopy closure already and wheat crops have reached maximum tiller count.

No further nitrogen applications are being considered for these crops as soil moisture should be able to support the booting, head emergence and flowering phases of crop development.

According to the Bureau, temperatures in late June throughout Victoria have been two to three degrees higher than average with southern NSW sitting at three to four degrees higher.

Last week northern Victoria and the Riverina recorded temperatures typically four to six degrees higher with some days six to eight degrees higher. These conditions can continue to push along crop maturity. While soils are wet and cold weather can slow crop development, early crops are vulnerable to August frosts.

With such favourable crop conditions also seen in all South Australia and much of NSW, the large wheat crops are expected to compete into the lower price tiers of feed markets in southeast Asia.

New crop wheat and canola prices for the Geelong and Melbourne port zones are lower this week at $341 and $793 a tonne respectively while BAR 1 barley is unchanged at $307 a tonne.

Victorian canola prices eased $5 a tonne in line with Winnipeg futures.

Although planting has been delayed by wet weather, last week Stats Canada announced Canadian growers have planted a record 10.6 million hectares of canola at the expense of wheat.