Harvesting barley between Bolgart and Goomalling in CBH’s Kwinana South zone. Photo: Trevor Syme
DELIVERIES to CBH Group hit 3.3 million tonnes (Mt) in the 2023-24 Western Australian harvest to yesterday following receivals for the week of 1.6Mt.
In its latest weekly harvest report released yesterday, the WA bulk handler said the week had seen all five zones double their total receivals for the year as growers made the most of warm, dry harvesting conditions.
The Albany Zone received more than 298,000t for the week, more than 70 percent of its total harvest 2023-24 receivals.
CBH chief operations officer Mick Daw said it is pleasing to see that new records were being set this year.
“This year’s harvest is the earliest we have ever received 2Mt into the CBH system,” Mr Daw said.
At the end of October last year, CBH had received just 490,000t into its system.
“It’s incredible to think how much grain has come in so quickly during October this year.
“The Esperance, Geraldton and Kwinana North zones have all received more than 700,000t in total for the 2023-24 harvest, which is an incredible effort.
“The Albany and Kwinana South zones also had a significant uptick during the week, more than doubling their total receivals for the year in just seven days.
“It’s good to see all commodities coming into the system, with wheat, canola and barley making up the majority, as we expect this time of year.”
Mr Daw said utility wheat grades were providing an option for growers to capture the value of high-protein wheat with less than 10pc screenings, especially in the Geraldton zone.
“These grades are also available in the other zones, as required by seasonal conditions.”
Table 1: CBH Group 2023-24 harvest receival statistics to 5 November 2023. Source: CBH Group
Following is an update by zone:
Albany
Canola makes up 67pc of the zone’s receivals to November 5, with barley making up the majority of the remainder to 18 open sites.
The balance of sites within the zone are expected to open towards the end of this week or early next week.
Esperance
Deliveries so far account for 30pc of the estimated total, and all sites are now open.
Canola is still making up the largest percentage of the deliveries, with barley close behind.
Wheat receivals have started to increase slightly in volume and this trend is expected to continue.
Geraldton Zone
CBH’s northernmost grain zone is approximately halfway through harvest.
Extreme heat and wind speeds are causing harvest bans across the zone, with the most recent one on November 3, shutting down most sites for the day.
Deliveries to the CAG1 canola segregation are now starting to drop off, and an increase in wheat tonnes is being seen.
No services have been closed as yet and all sites planned to be open remain open.
Deliveries in the zone include 30,000t of H1 wheat, a large amount for the zone, and the amount of wheat above 5pc screenings makes up approximately 50pc of wheat receivals to date.
Kwinana North
All sites are now open in the zone, which has received more than 25pc of its total estimates for this season.
Wheat is now making up most of the deliveries as barley and canola slow down.
Kwinana South Zone
Harvest is progressing well in the zone, with warm days making for good harvesting weather.
GM canola is the dominant grade delivered, followed by BFED1 and non-GM canola, and malting barley is still making up just over 40pc of the barley receivals.
More than 18,000t of wheat has been received, with ASW9 and APW the main grades so far.
Source: CBH Group
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