Tom Jones, Jacob Glare, Kyra Clarke and Jackson Cross at the Natimuk site, one of more than 60 to break their receival records this harvest. Photo: GrainCorp

WITH the winter-crop harvest close to completion on Australia’s east coast, GrainCorp is celebrating record site receivals across its grain handling network.

More than 60 sites in New South Wales and Victoria recorded their highest ever total of receivals of wheat, barley, canola and other grains.

The combined intake across harvest has totalled more than 13 million tonnes (Mt) of grower receivals year-to-date, eclipsing the 12.6Mt of winter-crop grower receivals delivered to GrainCorp during the previous bumper crop in 2016-17.

NSW was the standout state, with growers delivering more than 8Mt; Coonamble came out on top at 443,000t, surpassing its previous record of 384,000t set in 2016-17.

GrainCorp general manager of operations Nigel Lotz said this harvest was a very welcome turnaround for many farming communities.

“After several years of drought, it’s fantastic that growers have had a successful season of production, especially across NSW and Victoria,” Mr Lotz said.

“We’ve seen and felt the effects of the drought on many rural communities, some of which are still ongoing, so the change in conditions last year brought such a positive end to 2020 for many of them.

“For GrainCorp, several sites have gone from bust to boom – not only are they now full to the brim, but we added additional bunker storage to many of them to manage the bumper crop.

“We also opened some flex sites that we maintain for years like this, once it became clear just how high the yields were going to be in some regions.”

NSW sites that lay dormant during the drought also recorded their all-time best season in 2020, including Armatree, Garah, Merah North, Nyrang Creek, Peak Hill, Quirindi, Tamarang and Wirrinya.

NSW is also home to GrainCorp’s other standout receival sites, including Gilgandra, Parkes, Nevertire, Barellan, Ardlethan and Calleen, all of which sailed over 200,000 tonnes.

In Victoria, while heat and rain events delayed harvest activity, grain is still being delivered in the Wimmera and southern areas of the state.

Several Victorian sites have recorded their best season, including Lillimur, which has taken 122,000t, Natimuk, which has taken 101,000t, and Carpolac, sitting at 43,000t.

In Central Victoria, Elmore on 178,000t and Dunolly on 137,000t also broke receival records thanks to additional bunkers built on site.

Mr Lotz said the company’s focus has now turned towards sending the grain out around the world.

“The harvest not only reinvigorated many of our sites; it has also led to a strong export program out of our ports at Carrington and Port Kembla in NSW, and Geelong and Portland in Victoria.

“The four ports are largely booked out until September 2021.

“It’s our first major export year since the drought really took hold so we’re thrilled to be given the chance to stretch the legs of our port facilities.”

Table 1: GrainCorp’s NSW sites with highest receivals recorded during the 2020-21 harvest

Table 2: GrainCorp’s Victorian sites with highest receivals recorded during the 2020-21 harvest.

Source: GrainCorp