Wet start to harvest doesn’t dampen WA growers’ spirits with more than two million tonnes delivered already

WA’s grain growers are “crossing their fingers” damage from October’s rain and gusty winds will be kept to a minimum and they will still smash tonnage records. Harvest is well under way, with more than two million tonnes delivered to CBH bins across all five zones since the headers started whirring last month. But it has come to a grinding halt after 10-30mm fell across much of the grainbelt in the early hours of October 19, delivering a new blow to a season that started perfectly but finished with frosts and a dry spring. It may have dampened crops, but it is not dampening spirits, with hopes remaining high they will bounce back. Farmers last week were racing against the clock to get as much of their crop off as possible, with the Bureau of Meteorology’s forecast of 20-40mm and gusty winds hanging over their heads. Growers in the Geraldton Port Zone — who are responsible for 146,756 tonnes out of the total 199,405 tonnes received by CBH so far — copped the most, with the majority getting between 15-25mm, coupled with 60km/h wind gusts. More rain was forecast to come. Eneabba grain grower Jim Heal and his team managed to harvest 270ha of wheat and barley before October 19’s 20mm. He then got another 20mm in the days following. He took advantage of early rains delivered by cyclone Seroja in early April to start seeding his 4500ha cropping program, planting barley first. It meant the barley was ready for an early harvest, achieving 3.5 tonnes/ha, slightly above average. “Overall we are happy with how the season has panned out, there’s an abundance of sheep feed and the crops have been good,” Mr Heal said. On Friday he moved on to wheat, but Tuesday’s falls have pressed pause on harvest for now. However, he is hopeful its impact will be minimal. “I think it’ll be OK — fingers crossed,” Mr Heal said. “There’s blue sky, sun and some wind at the moment so with a bit of luck it should be OK. “I’m confident we shouldn’t have too much grain damage.” For Yuna grower Alex Grove — who tipped 25mm out of the gauge Tuesday morning — the rain was another hurdle in what has been a rocky start to harvest. He was one of a number of growers forced to use their old headers after $50 million worth of farm machinery — including 42 headers — was caught up in an industrial action debacle at Fremantle Port and diverted over east. After swift action by John Deere, AFGRI and a team of truckies, his new header arrived on-farm Saturday night. But it will not get a run until the crops dry. “I think we’re at about 50mm since the headers have been out — we just keep getting these rains,” he said. “It’s going to be one of those years.” Following a dry August, he said he had a mixture of good and bad crops and “time would tell” if there had been much damage from the rain. He said he had seen photos of some people’s canola laid flat from the wind, which would make it harder to harvest. A number of CBH’s bins in the Geraldton Port Zone will close for the next 2-5 days due to the “significant rainfall” — Binnu, Yuna, Northampton, Geraldton, Moonyoonooka, Mullewa, Canna, Pintharuka, Mingenew, Morawa, Arrino, Perenjori and Carnamah. A CBH spokesperson said the grain handler would enter into discussions about potentially opening on Sunday, following the wet week. “Following the wet weather, CBH Operations plans to open all the aforementioned sites for deliveries and will discuss with growers if these sites will be required to open on Sunday,” they said. Grain Industry Association of WA crop report author Michael Lamond said despite the challenges which had been faced this season, a record tonnage could still be on the cards, with GIWA’s latest grain forecast sitting at a massive 19.27m tonnes. Although the estimate is down from the 20 million tonne forecast two months ago — before the frosts and dry finish — it would still mark WA farmers’ biggest crop ever by a substantial margin. And with grain prices soaring, WA’s crop is estimated to be worth $6-$7 billion. Mr Lamond said the rain could have an impact on the total tonnages, but with record plantings of 9.2 million hectares, there would still be a lot of grain produced in WA this year. “It could still end up being a record total tonnage despite the dry spring, frost in large areas of the grainbelt and severe winter waterlogging in the higher rainfall regions,” he said. Mr Lamond said most at risk from the weather was canola, with high wind events having the potential to shatter seed pods. Rain on ripe cereal crops could also cause quality issues, he said, which could have a big impact on returns.