ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA — Viterra loaded over 5.1 million tonnes of grain from Australia’s 2022-23 bumper crop onto ships from December to May at its South Australian ports, surpassing its previous six-month record of 4.8 million tonnes set in 2012, the company reported June 6.

“This included our biggest month of shipping ever when we loaded over 900,000 tonnes onto vessels in March,” said Derek Robjohns, general manager supply chain for Viterra Australia. “We’re working hard to connect millions of tonnes of growers’ grain with end-use markets when demand is at its highest before the Northern Hemisphere harvest begins.”

Viterra’s total grain receivals from May 1 to June 4 were 7,485 tonnes, pushing the 2022-23 harvest total to 8.976 million tonnes.

Australia enjoyed its third consecutive bumper harvest in 2022-23 as exceptional rains and high commodity prices the previous two years encouraged farmers to plant nearly every available hectare for winter crops, mainly wheat, barley and canola.

The US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service has estimated the 2022-23 wheat crop at 39.2 million tonnes, barley at 14.1 million tonnes and canola at 8.3 million tonnes. The wheat and canola harvests were both records.