Farm Tender

WA Harvest update

Harvest is well underway in most zones with total grain received passing one million tonnes this week.

General Manager, Operations, David Capper is pleased to see things moving after a slow start.

“This past week has seen harvest really pick up as we get into the swing of things, particularly in the Geraldton and Kwinana zones.”

“We battled to get going in our southern zones due to some adverse weather conditions but we are starting to see some fantastic results this week with big volumes being delivered to some of our sites.”

“We were disappointed that growers experienced some significant site delays earlier this week at Moonyoonooka, but our staff did a great job handling the amount of tonnes coming through, and over the last few days we have seen better turnaround times” said Mr Capper.

ALBANY
Albany Zone has been slow to start harvest after receiving its first delivery at Gairdner last week, almost two weeks later than last harvest.

Rain across most of the zone last weekend has further delayed the start to harvest, but some sites across the north of the zone have started to receive deliveries with Hyden, Karlgarin and Lake Grace all receiving loads of barley earlier this week.

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Albany Zone Manager, Greg Thornton said quality was hard to gauge at this early stage.

“As a comparison at the same time last year we had received 100,000 tonnes. At this stage it is too early to gauge quality as the majority of barley received to date has been feed grade by variety.”

“With improved harvesting conditions and an increasing number of samples being assessed, we expect a number of sites to open this week and deliveries to ramp up” said Mr Thornton.

ESPERANCE
Esperance Zone harvest has picked up with most sites across the zone now open and receiving grain. Deliveries have been mostly canola with some barley and field peas in the mix.

“Inclement weather early in the week held up harvest again, however it now looks like quite a few growers have started their harvesting program and, provided the weather stays fine, we should see some good tonnages next week” said Esperance Zone Manager, Mick Daw.

GERALDTON
Geraldton Zone has seen some good volumes come in with half of all grain received this year coming in the last week alone.

“We are fortunate to see a mostly clear week ahead with ideal harvesting conditions” said Geraldton Zone Manager, Duncan Gray.

“At this stage we have nearly reached our canola and barley estimate, so it’s possible that by the end of next week we will exceed that estimate.”

“We are also hearing reports that wheat and barley yields are up to 5 tonnes per hectare in some areas, which is fantastic news for growers” said Mr Gray.

KWINANA
The Kwinana Zone has seen almost half a million tonnes of grain come in over the last week, the majority made up of barley, but with wheat and canola starting to appear on site.

“Most of our sites are open across the zone now, and although deliveries in the south of the zone are still slow, with fine weather we should see good tonnes come into the system next week” said Kwinana Assistant Zone Manager, Allan Walker.

MARKET UPDATE
With just over one million tonnes of grain received into the CBH network, harvest demand for grain from our contestable markets has improved. Many customers are now realising that WA grain will be the most competitive Australian state this year and have started to ramp up their coverage. This is good news for WA growers as it provided support for our local grower bids. Sales of WA grain into the east coast have slowed given they have commenced harvest and recent rains have increased the chances for a large sorghum crop.

Barley
While demand for malting barley remains strong, the production size of the WA feed barley crop is placing pressure on local values. Feed barley demand is not keeping up with receivals so we anticipate continued pressure on local values. Malting barley selection rates are currently running below average due predominantly to screening issues, however we anticipate this will improve as harvest continues throughout all zones.

Wheat
With APW1 grower bids still at A$355 per tonne free in store (FIS) Kwinana, many growers are in a very strong position to capitalise on above average yields – particularly within the Geraldton and Kwinana zones. Quality appears mixed with protein results appearing higher than last season on deliveries to date. Demand has opened up in the Middle East and South East Asia over the past few weeks, providing support for values.

Canola
European Union (EU) buyers have finally reconnected with the Australian non-GM canola market, keen to cover a portion of their 2018/19 demand. However, this demand is still well behind traditional buying programs, dampened by large Ukrainian exports into the EU. Grower bids for non-GM canola remain at A$595 per tonne free in store (FIS).