New South Wales, Queensland and Victorian farmers have harvested a near-record volume of grain this year, even though significant areas of the south-east of the country have been subjected to extended wet conditions, and indeed flooding in some parts. GrainCorp receives, handles and stores products at close to 170 sites, about half of all grain grown in the eastern states: spokesman Nigel Lotz stated that some sites had received record volumes, while other sites were on the verge of breaking records as final harvests were being accounted for. The Cunningar silos took in a record 100,000 tonnes of grain.
Wheat, barley, canola and chickpeas totalled about 12 million tonnes from the three states. And harvesting is continuing in Victoria.
As usual, rain is the main factor in determining the state of the crop. This season it has been the traditionally marginal acreages that have produced the largest tonnages.
Mr Lotz stated that the 2016 winter harvest was very close to the 13 million tonnes received in 2010-2011: with an extended harvest time, there were numerous potential problems with quality. But the harvest results have been very pleasing, especially in the south.
GrainCorp’s Sara Roche (southern NSW regional manager) said the big yield does not necessarily mean big profits for farmers, because grain prices across the globe are depressed. Ms Roche stated that, “GrainCorp has secured contracts to supply significant volumes into India, Egypt and other Middle East markets.”
