SANTA turns up in July and Easter bunnies invade on Boxing Day. With the 2018 grain harvest barely over, and in some states barely begun, agricultural machinery manufacturer GrainKing is urging farmers to plan the 2019 harvest.
Despite some areas failing to harvest a winter crop, other areas had an excellent result.
GrainKing chief executive Colin Jorgensen said this year’s bumper harvest in many areas of Western Australia had farmers scrambling to buy additional grain bins.
“Our order book from farmers for the 2018 harvest was already pretty full in anticipation of a good season for our Nyrex, Titan and Maximus bins, but as the season started to get closer the demand for grain bins grew,” he said.
“Everyone wanted machines in August, but they take time to manufacture, with some components having to be brought in from other parts of the world, which really put the pressure on.”
Mr Jorgensen said to create a smoother work flow GrainKing had introduced an early order program, which offered buyers discounts for placing orders earlier in the year.
“Even with the opening of a new 17,000 square metre shed at Cunderdin and the addition of six staff it had been hard to keep up with demand,” he said.
Mr Jorgensen said the family-run business was established in 1962 and expanded from a mechanical repair workshop to become a specialist manufacturer of farm machinery.
Previously known as Trufab, he said the business has been building grain handling machinery since 1982, including its GrainKing bins and more recently Nyrex and Titan chaser bins and Maximus grain bins.
Mr Jorgensen said the company was “reaping the benefits” of an outstanding performance at the 2018 Swedish Steel Awards, which recognised the Nyrex chaser bin as one of the world’s most innovative steel users.
While predominantly known as a West Australian company, GrainKing has recently expanded its national network of dealers across Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.