Viterra Rudall team members Ray Cooper, David Sandow and Kurtis Jacques with grower Farren Frischke, who delivered the site’s first load for the current harvest. Photo: Viterra

SOUTH Australian growers delivered 67,862 tonnes of grain into the Viterra network in the week to Sunday, mostly to sites in the Western region.

The largest share of deliveries was barley, followed by wheat and lentils, with canola and field peas also making up deliveries to Viterra sites.

Sites to receive their first loads for the 2023-24 harvest were Port Lincoln, Rudall, Witera, Tumby Bay, and Nunjikompita in the Western region, and Ardrossan, Roseworthy, Balaklava and Port Giles in the Central region.

Viterra Western region operations manager Nick Pratt said Thevenard and Wudinna had the most activity in the region last week.

“We currently have 13 sites open for harvest and our grower customers are reporting that they’re harvesting two to three weeks earlier than a typical year,” Mr Pratt said.

“We’re looking forward to a break in the weather to see deliveries increase and more sites start to take grain.”

Viterra Central region operations manager Jack Tansley said early commodities being seen in the region are lentils, canola and barley.

“Lentils are leading in volume so far,” Mr Tansley said.

“Growers have now delivered into seven sites in the region, while some of the cooler weather we’ve seen has held up some areas from getting fully started.”

Viterra Eastern region operations manager Andrew Cannon said the region was preparing to receive its first upcountry deliveries.

“We have received loads of both peas and barley into Inner Harbour in the last fortnight,” Mr Cannon said.

“While we wait for our first upcountry delivery in the region, our team has been preparing sites and continuing to move remaining 2022-23 season grain through our network to meet end-user demand.”

Source: Viterra