Craig Thompson (left) delivers the first load to CBH Group for the 2023-24 harvest, lupins into Yuna. Photo: CBH Group
WESTERN Australian bulk handler CBH Group is receiving new-crop grain in all five of its port zones, with deliveries from the current harvest to Sunday at 680,500 tonnes.
CBH chief operations officer Mick Daw said the majority of sites are expected to open in the coming week.
“To date we have received a total of 680,500t across the CBH network, with 518,900t alone received in the past week,” Mr Daw said.
“We expect most sites that will open this harvest to open this week, with deliveries to ramp up in the next fortnight.”
Table 1: New-crop receivals at CBH Group sites. Source: CBH Group
A September 27 delivery to Yuna in the Geraldton zone of 52t of lupins was the first new-crop delivery to a CBH site this harvest.
“The Geraldton, Kwinana North and Esperance zones are well progressed and have made up the majority of the total deliveries, with harvest in the Kwinana South now under way, and Albany zone starting last week.”
Following is a summary by port zone:
Albany
Harvest has only just started in the Albany zone, with nine sites receiving grain.
Canola has been the primary commodity delivered, with a few loads of feed barley also received.
Several key sites opened over the weekend as more growers started harvest, and more sites planned to open this week.
Esperance
Harvest progress has been reasonably steady in the Esperance zone, with canola, barley and a small amount of field peas received.
Cycle times are good due to the smaller volume of trucks at this stage of harvest.
After some thunderstorm activity on Sunday, weather in the upcoming week looks fine, with many more growers anticipated to deliver into the system.
Sites open include: Chadwick at Esperance port; Beaumont; Cascades; Munglinup; Grass Patch; Ravensthorpe; Mt Madden; Lake King, and Lake Varley.
Geraldton
The Geraldton zone has received all commodities to date, and all sites planned scheduled to open are now taking receivals.
This crop of wheat in the Kwinana North zone’s Wongan Hills district has yielded around 2t/ha. Photo: Harvestaire
Wheat is the major commodity delivered to date.
Significantly less tonnes into more grades than last year are being received across the zone due to seasonal conditions affecting yield and quality, and CBH Group is working to provide growers with the services to maximise value in this below-average production year.
By comparison, 2019 receivals totalled 1.3 million tonnes, and harvest started a week later than in this harvest. It took until 4 November 2019 to receive 250,000t, a total hit approximately 15 days earlier this season.
Kwinana North
Harvest conditions have been good in the zone, with the exception of harvest bans last Tuesday stopping deliveries for the afternoon.
Conditions look to remain perfect for the next seven to 10 days.
The zone has received mainly canola and barley, with a few loads of wheat, lupins and oats, and 80 percent of sites in the zone are now open, with the balance to open next week.
With favourable weather conditions over the next 10 days, CBH Group could receive approximately 600,000t before November.
Kwinana South
After a hot and dry few weeks, the season has kicked off with a similar amount of grain already received by the end of October last year.
All areas in Kwinana South have now taken grain, and the majority of grain received has been barley and canola.
Barley deliveries are evenly split between malting and feed segregations.
CBH Group expects harvest in the zone to crank up next week, and its Metro Grain Centre is now open for deliveries for all services including CAN and CAG canola, BFED and BASS1 barley, OAT1/2 oats, and AWWT, ASW9, APW1, H1 and H2 wheat.
Source: CBH Group
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