Wimmera Grain Company seeds and accumulation manager Anthony Chapman said it had been an interesting harvest.

“We’ve seen varied quality from number one grade lentils, beans and chickpeas, down to 95 per cent frosted,” he said.

“So we are seeing really good grain and everything in between.”

Mr Chapman said lentil prices also meant there was less selling activity in the region.

“We aren’t getting the volumes that we were getting last year,” he said.

Mr Chapman said many growers in the southern Mallee had finished harvest, while many Wimmera growers would restart harvest in the next few days after wet weather.

“I think people will get going again early this week,” he said.

Viterra Dooen site manager Andrew Brown said harvest was well underway in the region.

He said canola and barley were making up majority of the deliveries so far.

“Faba beans, lentils and wheat have also been coming in,” he said.

Mr Brown said weather caused a few interruptions last week.

“We have been offering extended opening hours to help growers get their grain in,” he said.

“With significant rain forecast last week, we opened until midnight on Wednesday to ensure growers could deliver as much as possible into the bunkers.”

Mr Brown said any damage from the rain was still unknown.

“We will have to wait until growers start harvesting again to assess any impact on quality,” he said.

GrainCorp sites in the region also extended trading hours last week.

GrainCorp spokesman Luke O’Donnell said sites had set opening hours according to farmer demand and many sites were operational until midnight last week before opening early Thursday morning.

By noon on Thursday he said the focus had shifted towards securing the sites from the impending weather.

“Safety was the major priority for everyone so we’ve tried to reach that balance between getting as many tonnes in while the weather was still good and then ensuring the sites were well and truly secured,” he said.

He said data as to the tonnages taken on Wednesday had not been fully processed but he believed it would be one of the biggest receival days for the harvest.

He said the company would now reassess the situation in terms of segregation and the potential for downgraded grain due to weather damage.