Many growers in WA last week had fine harvesting weather. Photo: Paul Carmody
WESTERN Australian growers delivered 3.25 million tonnes (Mt) of grain to CBH Group sites in the week to Sunday to take the bulk handler’s total receivals for the harvest to date to 15.59Mt.
Last week had less rain interruptions to harvest than previous weeks to make it the second-biggest week of receivals for the 2024-25 harvest.
The Albany, Kwinana North and Kwinana South Zones all had fine harvesting conditions, while the Esperance and Geraldton zones had some rain.
CBH Group chief operations officer Mick Daw said if the current pace of harvest continues, most WA growers will be finished before Christmas.
“Growers are again able to get the crop off quickly now that the weather is warmer and dryer, and we are having consecutive days of high receivals,” Mr Daw said.
“All zones are on track to equal or exceed our forecasted tonnes, and the estimates forecasted by the Grain Industry Association of Western Australia.
“At this rate, it is looking like CBH will take in the third-highest harvest tonnes on record, with harvest wrapped up before Christmas in most areas.”
Falling numbers testing units are now in place for load-by-load testing for sprouted grain at nearly all sites in the Geraldton and Kwinana zones.
“Falling numbers testing allows us to protect the quality of the stacks in the CBH system and the reputation of WA grain in the market,” Mr Daw said.
“We appreciate grower and transporter patience and understanding with our site staff while we go through this process and ask to remain respectful during this time.”
Following is a round-up of conditions by zone:
Albany
Weather has been fine for the Albany Zone over the past week, making for good harvesting conditions.
Wheat was the dominant commodity being received, with barley starting to slow down and canola wrapping up.
All sites are open, and some are starting to fill up.
The CBH Gairdner site recently passed its season receival record of 308,496t, and is still receiving grain.
Esperance
Despite some rain in the Esperance Zone, weather did not significantly impact receivals.
Many growers are finishing their harvest programs for the year, with others aiming to finish before Christmas.
All commodities continue to be received.
Due to space constraints, some services at sites may be limited, and growers may need to travel further to deliver specific grades, particularly canola.
Geraldton
Part of the Geraldton Zone had rain totalling 5-20mm of rain in the past week.
Sites are receiving wheat, barley, lupins and canola, with wheat dominating.
Growers are encouraged to bring in the remainder of their barley so we can use the storage for wheat. The majority of wheat is AWW2, which is causing delays on sites.
All sites and services are open across the zone, and turnaround time is heavily affected by falling numbers testing.
Morawa broke its daily receival record on Thursday, taking 7081t, against the previous record of 5950t set in 2022.
Kwinana North
Wheat was the major commodity being delivered into the Kwinana North system, as canola and barley have all but finished.
All sites and services are open across the zone, and falling numbers units are set up at most sites.
McLvie broke its daily receival record last Tuesday, taking 9817t to break the previous record of 9455t set in 2022.
Kwinana South
Harvesting weather was good over the past seven days, with only minor harvest bans in some locations on the weekend.
Wheat remained the largest commodity being received, followed by barley and oats.
Most growers have now completed with their canola programs, with only a few hundred tonnes left to go.
Services at some sites are filling and will close within the coming week.
More daily records were broken last week at Corrigin, York, Dale, Shackelton and Meckering.
Source: CBH Group
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