With hot weather having arrived early in spring and the strongest El Niño system ever having been declared, there are some concerns across Australian industry about the weather between now and the 2016 harvest. 
 
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has forecast a hotter and drier October and November, likely to dry out the country and bring forward extreme fire conditions that would usually only be faced in late January and February. 
 
Fire ban dates have thus also been brought forward, starting from 26 October to 1 November in many regions.