WA grain farmers reaping bigger yields than expected but rain causes harvest headaches

WA farmers are set to bring in a bigger grain crop than first expected, though activity has been slowed by widespread rainfall throughout the Wheatbelt. Today’s Grain Industry Association of WA crop report forecasts a 13.99 million tonne harvest — almost 8 per cent higher than expected a just month ago. With the higher forecast, the 2020 grain crop will still be under the five-year average of 15.29mt, though GIWA says its estimates could be upgraded further. CBH Group has reported 3.2mt is now in the bins, after receiving about 1.2mt throughout the week. Crop report author Mike Lamond said canola, barley and lupins — typically the first grains to be harvested — were yielding between 10 and 20 per cent more than expected. The small amount of wheat already harvested is following the same trend. “If this continues as harvest moves south, there will be further upside to total State grain production against our current forecasts,” Mr Lamond said. He said while rainfall had been low during the growing season, it appeared crops had converted every drop of rain to grain. He said for many growers, “crop water-use efficiency” was in uncharted territory, with greater than 20kg of grain produced per millimetre of rain in cereals. However, it was not all good news for farmers. Mr Lamond said there were several severe wind events and pockets of hail across the Wheatbelt where individual growers have lost grain. Mr Lamond said the harvest had been a stop-start affair because of the intermittent rain and cool weather over the past few weeks. “For most growers, harvest is now more about the potential deterioration in grain quality if we continue to receive late-season rain events followed by cool weather,” he said.