State Government expecting “bumper” Mid West grain harvest as more than 3MT forecast

The State Government says it is expecting a “bumper” grain harvest from the Mid West, with more than 3Mt set to come to the region.

Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis was in Geraldton on Monday and was given a tour of the CBH facility at Geraldton Port.

She said the news was promising after the season at times threatened to struggle.

“We had such a challenging start to the season, as growers will know,” she said.

“We had an incredibly dry autumn. We had a late break to winter, so to be here at the start of the harvest season, to acknowledge that the hard-working crew here at CBH will be bringing through more than three million tons hopefully.

“This grain leaving the Geraldton port is going around the world to those customers that rely so heavily on Western Australian grain.”

According to the State Government, the average harvest amount for the Mid West region is about 2.4Mt.

In recent years combining with the Federal Government, they have committed $200 million towards supply chain improvements.

Ms Jarvis said having one body throughout the State working on grain made it easier to help the process.

“We’re working closely with CBH. We are very fortunate here in Western Australia that we have a grower-owned cooperative, that our whole grain industry can actually operate on that single supply chain,” she said.

“So, we’ll continue to work closely with CBH, particularly to get more grain across here to the ports quicker has been fantastic through the ASCI (Agricultural Supply Chain Improvements) program.”

The 3Mt prediction of grain production in the Mid West would double last year’s haul.

According to the GIWA crop report, the region avoided a “last quarter choke”, with report author Michael Lamond saying the weather ended up being favourable.

“The Geraldton port zone has had an incredible run since the rain started in mid-June,” he said.

“The first half of October saw most of the region receiving 20mm which, combined with above-average rainfall in July and August, has set the region up for a strong harvest.

“Total tonnage is going to be limited only by the lateness of the start, problems getting fertiliser on and problems controlling weeds when the ground became untrafficable.”

Across the State, it is predicted total grain production for 2024-25 will be between 17Mt and 18Mt.

Ms Jarvis said the local economy will be one of the beneficiaries to a strong harvest.

“The WA grain harvest adds billions of dollars to the economy each year, and so when we have successful years, the whole community benefits from that,” she said.

“The whole West Australian economy benefits from that, and Geraldton as a city benefits from not only those permanent workers, but also those harvest casuals that come in.

“Our truckers benefit, and our small businesses benefit, because when there’s more money in the community, we know the local economies do really well.”

When asked if the conditions on some Mid West roads would affect the harvest, Ms Jarvis said.

“I’m very proud of the work the good government has done and the money it’s invested in regional roads, but there’s always more work to be done on regional roads,” she said.

“The $200 million that has gone from the State and Federal government and partnering with CBH is to speed up that, getting more grain onto rail.

“I know the road network always needs, needs work, and we are working closely. The transport minister meets regularly with CBH and with growers, and she is acutely aware of the challenges.”