RECEIVAL sites across the Wimmera are satisfied with the quantity and quality of grain from the 2018 harvest despite difficult circumstances.
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GrainCorp’s final harvest report was released on Monday, with a total of 1,360,500 tonnes received at Victorian sites. This was down from 2017’s state total of 2,944,500 tonnes and 2016’s total of 3,739,400 tonnes.
The combined total of grain receivals for Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland was 2,076,100 tonnes. Specific statistics for the Wimmera region were not made available.
GrainCorp Wimmera area manager Ged Bibby said nine receival sites were situated across the region during the harvest. Site locations included Murtoa, Warracknabeal, Jeparit, Nhill and Natimuk.
“Overall most of the Wimmera sites were pretty happy with what they ended up getting. There were some tough areas east and north of Horsham – the Warracknabeal and Murtoa areas were pretty tough. Then the areas west of Horsham towards Nhill have done very well,” he said.
“It probably exceeded what the silo committees had expected – so it’s been positive. Canola was really good throughout the whole area and the wheat was too. Overall, those two commodities were well received by everybody.”
He said the turnaround at the sites was reasonably positive throughout the cluster.
“Most growers have provided some good feedback to us which is fantastic. All the customers seem to be very pleased with the year, especially to the west of Horsham. Prices have also been really good,” he said.
Shannon Bro. has receival sites at Horsham and Beulah. Horsham site manager Clayton Shannon said there was a big contrast between the two locations.
“Beulah was on the very low side, but sites on rail were very competitive this year which probably forced us out of a lot of tonnage. But there was also a lot of a crops and hay that didn’t go as well as expected,” he said.
“The northern side of Horsham was similar to Beulah, but the northern side seems to have gone extremely well. I think financially the growers have been very surprised about how well they have come out of the harvest. That’s not everyone, but it does seem to be a majority.”
Mr Clayton said it was difficult to summarise the year.
“Some growers have just cut even and some have had extraordinary years. The old adage is that you’ll never get two harvests the same and this year has certainly proven that,” he said.
“The prices are looking terrific at the moment. Wheat is anywhere from $380 to $410, depending on the grade, and the barley is hovering anywhere between $350 to $370. We’ve also seen record bean prices. It’s a good time to have grain if you’ve got it.”
He said he hoped 2019 would bring positive results.
“The early rains have certainly helped and hopefully that will continue on so we can have a good year. We’re hoping for a better season as far as yield goes, and that’s really all we can do,” he said.
Wimmera Grain Company accumulation manager Oliver Reid said the business’s Rupanyup site had put a greater focus on pulses in 2018.
“We were anticipating that we’d have lower receivals than normal due to the dry and frost conditions towards the end of the season. What we really wanted to focus on was faba beans with the prices being at record highs,” he said.
“That enabled us to extend our arc towards the border, so we were taking stuff from near Kaniva, Nhill and Edenhope, and bringing that into Rupanyup. That helped increase the through-put volumes in the early stages of the season.
“Before Christmas it was hard to know if we could do a lot of lentil exports because the prices were so low, but they have been quite strong in the domestic market as stock feed. The export market now is now well above what the domestic feed market is.”
Mr Reid said the outcomes of the 2018 harvest had been more positive than expected.
“It’s looking a bit better than what we expecting the lead up to harvest, especially when we heard about the frosts – that was sort of the nail in the coffin. It had been dry, but we were getting just enough in the Wimmera to keep things hanging on,” he said.
“The frosts we got towards the end of the season really put a wet blanket on things. Volumes will certainly be lower than average, but I think that there will be enough to keep us busy and running full-time until we get to harvest again.”
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