CBH 2023-24 harvest update: Done and dusted as 12.5 million tonnes of grain delivered

CBH has officially concluded its 2023-24 harvest in WA, delivering 12.5 million tonnes of grain across 104 sites in the network.

Compared to prior harvests, the 2023-24 harvest was smaller, with zone total receivals for CBH down across WA.

The Albany zone produced the most, with 3.2Mt across the network.

With the smaller-than-usual harvest, no new site total receival records were reached.

CBH received 407,000t of grain on its biggest receival day of the harvest, a massive drop from the 603,000t for the biggest day in 2022-23.

Chief operations officer Mick Daw said growers had expected a smaller than usual season, especially when considering the successful years prior.

“Early on in the year, it was clear for many growers that 2023 would not be a repeat of the previous two bumper harvests,” Mr Daw said.

“As conditions worsened and estimates came in during June and July, we started making plans to accommodate seasonal conditions in our services this harvest.

“We anticipated this year’s crop to yield higher screenings and higher protein for many growers.”

Mr Daw said CBH took measures to address the higher proteins and screenings.

“CBH introduced additional utility grades, changed quality optimisation limits and rules, and made high moisture grading system changes to create more opportunities for growers to capture the value of their grain,” he said.

“Pleasingly, our safety performance improved slightly this harvest and our incident response continued to deliver better safety outcomes across the network.

“I want to sincerely thank all CBH employees, contractors and growers for their tireless work to safely and efficiently bring in this year’s harvest. The sustained level of professionalism and commitment to the task is a testament to the strength of WA’s grain growing communities.”

With CBH’s harvest officially wrapped up, it is now working on the 2024 out loading program to ensure grain tonnes arrive at port in the first half of the year.

The Grain Industry Association of WA is scheduled to release an overall summary of the 2023-24 harvest on February 8.