WA grain growers defy odds to deliver fourth-biggest harvest

Australia’s biggest grain handler CBH Group has officially closed its 2020-21 season harvest — which surpassed all expectations to equal the fourth largest on record with 15.1 million tonnes of grain delivered into the network. The figure was way up on last year’s CBH harvest total of 9.8 million tonnes. Despite receiving below average rainfall over the growing season, WA growers demonstrated how innovative and progressive farming practices coupled with mild temperatures can produce an above average crop. CBH’s Kwinana North Zone delivered the most amount of grain, at 3.7 million tonnes, followed by Albany Port Zone at 3.1 million tonnes. Kwinana South Zone and Geraldton Port Zone were neck-in-neck with 2.8 million tonnes of grain delivered across both of the zones, while Esperance Port Zone recorded 2.7 million tonnes. CBH chief operations officer Ben Macnamara congratulated growers and the CBH team for an outstanding season. “At the start of harvest, the general forecast was for a below average season so for growers to deliver over and above this is a great achievement,” Mr Macnamara said. “Harvest was relatively smooth, despite widespread rainfall in November which disrupted the start of harvest and caused some frustration and concern over the potential impact on quality. “In the end, both quality and yields exceeded expectations across some parts of the state. “There were some areas where harvest was patchy, and certainly some growers did not have as good a season as others. “All in all, I’d like to congratulate growers on a great season and thank them for working with us to bring in the large crop safely.” Several records were broken this season, with CBH experiencing its busiest delivery day ever experienced on November 23 when 528,687 tonnes were delivered to 112 sites across the network. The network-wide record joined 14 sites that broke their daily receival records and 15 sites that broke their season records. “These records were made possible by our significant investment into expanding and enhancing our network sites, the CBH team operating sites efficiently and grower’s investing in their equipment to increase their harvest capacity,” Mr Macnamara said. “As the pace and size of harvest increases, we will continue investing in our network to ensure we can provide an efficient service to growers when they need it most.” Site cycle times averaged 38 minutes across the network, a not-unexpected increase of just two minutes from last year given the significantly larger harvest, and still six to eight minutes faster than just a few seasons ago. Improved site efficiencies have once again been supported by the continued uptake of the CDF app with 96 per cent of tonnes delivered via the app this harvest, up from 91 per cent in 2019-20 and 69 per cent in 2018-19, the first year of network-wide use. CBH is now focused on the task of out turning the grain to its four ports to meet a busy export program for the State. The shipping stem is fully booked until the end of June, driven by strong demand from favourable market conditions. AT A GLANCE • 15.1 million tonnes received • 14 daily receival records broken • 15 site season records broken • 114 sites opened • 38 minutes average site cycle time • 96 per cent of tonnes delivered via CDF App SITE DAILY RECEIVALS RECORDS Ballidu: 6,922 tonnes (December 9) Borden: 13,150 tonnes (December 7) Cadoux: 5912 tonnes (November 23) Cranbrook: 20,314 tonnes (December 8) Dowerin: 8,063 (November 23) Gairdner: 10,110 (December 8) Konnongorring: 6,939 (December 2) Lake King: 8082 (November 19) Lake Varley: 6114 tonnes (November 23) Merredin: 15,326 tonnes (December 7) Narngulu: 9419 tonnes (November 17) Wagin: 6130 tonnes (November 27) Wickepin: 5813 tonnes (December 4) SITE RECORDS Broomehill: 188,187 tonnes Cranbrook: 461,940 Dowerin 2: 216,668 Dulyalbin: 47,313 tonnes Gairdner: 221, 493 tonnes Jacup: 80, 875 tonnes Koorda: 192,151 tonnes Lake King: 154,707 tonnes Merredin: 490,010 tonnes Munglinup: 216,518 tonnes Narngulu: 182,930 tonnes Nyabing: 134,673 tonnes Ravensthorpe: 157,510 tonnes West River: 45,490 tonnes Wickepin: 128,996 tonnes