RECEIVALS from the Western Australian harvest hit 5.39 million tonnes (Mt) as of November 12, according to WA bulk handler CBH Group.

This follows deliveries in the week to yesterday of 2.08Mt, which have seen four of CBH’s five zones pass the 1Mt mark, with only Albany left to pass the milestone this week.

In its weekly Harvest Report issued today, CBH said harvest is slowing in the Geraldton zone, but deliveries remain high in the other four zones.

CBH chief operations officer Mick Daw said all sites and services that were planned to open this year are receiving grain.

“We are well and truly in the thick of harvest, which is evident in the high volume of grain we are receiving across all zones,” Mr Daw said.

Following is a round-up of harvest by zone:

Albany

Canola deliveries in most of the zone have started to slow down, with barley the main commodity now being delivered.

Of the 362,000t of canola delivered across the zone, 45 percent are GM varieties.

In the southern areas of the zone, canola is still the main commodity being delivered.

Esperance

The zone received some light rain over the past week which has not hampered deliveries, and it has now received around 40pc of estimated deliveries for this harvest.

Canola is still coming in strong to the port, but barley was the main commodity received over the past week.

Wheat volume is slowly increasing.

Rainfall is predicted over the coming seven days which may impact deliveries across the zone, but most growers are still expecting an early December finish to their programs.

There is high variation across the zone in quality due to the dry finish to the growing season.

Geraldton

The zone is on track to hit the total harvest intake estimate of 1.2Mt, and it may even surpass this.

H2 remains the dominant receival grade across the zone, closely followed by APW1.

Sites in the north have started to adjust their opening hours to reflect the harvest slowing down.

Geraldton, Narngulu and Moonyoonooka will switch to operate a single shift starting Thursday, and CBH Yuna will close for the season on Wednesday.

Kwinana North

Deliveries in the zone are now at around 41pc of the estimated total for this harvest.

Canola and barley deliveries have slowed right down, and wheat is now the main commodity being delivered.

Kwinana South

Last week some sites in the zone were receiving equal parts canola, barley and wheat, creating some new challenges with providing all wheat segregations.

Canola receivals have started to slow down, barley remains steady, and wheat has picked up.

The ASW9 grade remains the highest received wheat grade, followed by APW1 and H2.

MAXI1 is making up almost one third of all barley receivals so far.

Lupins and oats are now coming in slowly.

Source: CBH Group