WA grain harvest continues to gather steam despite delays caused by wet weather

WA growers have delivered nearly 1.9 million tonnes of grain to CBH receival bins across the State in the past seven days, despite wet weather in the Wheatbelt slowing the pace of harvest. The figure, revealed in CBH Group’s weekly harvest report on Monday, was up on the previous week, when grain deliveries totalled 1.5Mt. It brings the total for the season to nearly 3,985,000t. CBH chief operations officer Mick Daw said it was unlikely the wet weather would cause significant delays to growers’ harvest programs. “Most of WA’s grain growing regions received some rain late last week, which stopped many growers from harvesting,” he said. “We responded accordingly by temporarily shutting sites and services to protect the grain already received. “All our services are now back up and running and we are hearing that most growers are able to get back to harvesting.” In the seven days to November 10, growers in the Geraldton Port zone delivered 450,100t, followed by Kwinana North (407,500t), Albany (377,000t), Esperance (352,300) and Kwinana South (275,400t). The western part of the Albany zone was not affected by the wet weather, but cooler temperatures in the south and rain in the north slowed receivals. “The majority of receivals have been barley and canola, with some growers in the zone delivering wheat, which is early for Albany,” the report said. All six receival sites across the Albany zone were expected to be open by the end of next week. Deliveries in the Geraldton zone started off slow but picked up throughout the week, with rain on Thursday slowing receivals on Friday. “Canola tonnes picked up last week with cooler weather, and we expect the bulk of it to be finished by the end of this week,” the report said. “Wheat tonnes are steadily picking up, with the zone likely to ramp up next week. “Growers across the zone have been reporting high wheat yields, as high as 3.5-4 tonnes per hectare for some.” All receival sites are open, with extended hours at Geraldton Grain Terminal, Moonyoonooka, Narngulu, Mingenew and Carnamah. Rain across the Kwinana North zone at the end of last week affected deliveries “for a day or so”, CBH said. All commodities were being delivered, with canola and barley the major ones, and all receival sites were open. Canola was also the top commodity in the Kwinana South zone, but barley volumes were still “going strong”. “Most growers are only a quarter way through their barley program and we expect this to continue for at least another week or two,” the report said. “Low amounts of wheat, lupins and oats continue to come through, but nothing significant as yet.” Most receival sites are open, with the rest expected to be open by mid-November. In Esperance, barley and canola were the main commodities being received, with some wheat starting to arrive and all receival sites now open. “(It was) a solid week of receivals for the majority of the week until wet weather from Friday to Sunday slowed harvest progress right down,” the report said. “Most of our services are back up and running, and growers getting back on the headers.” CBH was looking to introduce wheat segregations to accommodate high screenings in the Esperance zone, while wheat grades had already been introduced in the Kwinana North zone.