It has been another busy harvest in Victoria's Wimmera region, despite a wet winter and dry spring with above average yields once again in an area that has enjoyed a series of favourable seasons.
This has meant there has been plenty of action at the area's major grain receival site, GrainCorp's Murtoa site.
Frequent harvest delays and a shift to higher value, lower volume crops such as canola and lentils mean the site has not broken overall daily receival records but is building up nicely towards another big season.
Site manager Simon Trigg said the facility has currently received around 209,000 tonnes of grain and he estimated it would push towards the 270,000 tonne figure achieved in recent seasons.
"We've got a busy week ahead of us before Christmas, then things could ease off a bit, but because of the slow and interrupted harvest we're expecting more grain to come through after Christmas than we would in years with a drier harvest," Mr Trigg said.
Farmers have not only had to contend with a series of rain events, with up to 100mm falling in the west Wimmera, which forms part of the broader catchment for the Murtoa site, but also cool and humid conditions after the rain, meaning moisture levels have been particularly slow to drop.
However, the yields have been good when farmers have managed to get going, with canola a particular standout.
"Canola is going from strength to strength in this region," Mr Trigg said.
He said the site had broken an all-time canola receival record this season, reflecting the strong deliveries of the oilseed.
The GrainCorp Murtoa team was outloading a 3000 tonne train shipment of canola destined for the port of Geelong on Wednesday morning.
"Having the ability to outload has been critical in helping creating more space for growers, which we've needed given those strong yields."
The season has also been notable for its patchwork nature, meaning the site has not flowed steadily through canola to barley to wheat as is the norm.
"There have been people swapping and changing according to what is ready and what is higher value, so we've seen plenty of wheat come in and not as much barley compared to a normal year."
Farmers in the immediate Murtoa district are likely to be largely finished by Christmas with the focus turning to regions to the south and west after the festive period.
A band of rain is becoming increasingly likely to hit the Wimmera on Christmas Eve, further frustrating growers with significant hectares of crop still to harvest.
Gregor Heard
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
Gregor Heard is ACM's national grains industry reporter, based in Horsham, Victoria. He has a wealth of knowledge surrounding the cropping sector through his 15 years in the role. Prior to that he was with the Fairfax network as a reporter with Stock & Land. Some of the major issues he has reported on during his time with the company include the deregulation of the export wheat market, the introduction of genetically modified crops and the fight to protect growers better from grain trader insolvencies. Still involved with the family farm he is passionate about rural Australia and its people and hopes to use his role to act as an advocate for those involved in the grain sector.
