WEST PERTH, AUSTRALIA — The CBH Group said on Aug. 25 that it welcomes the state government's move to continue using its Harvest Mass Management Scheme (HMMS) for the Western Australian (WA) grain industry for the 2010-11 harvest onwards.

This announcement comes after the Minister for Transport and Main Roads WA adopted the scheme as a model for the industry in October last year.

CBH General Manager Operations Colin Tutt said this is pleasing news for Western Australian grain growers and transporters.

"We welcome the state government's decision to adopt the Harvest Mass Management Scheme," Tutt said. "This harvest will mark the fifth year that our Harvest Mass Management Scheme has been in place for the Western Australian grain industry.

"In this time, we've seen a significant drop in the number of trucks overloading. Last season, less than 1% of deliveries were outside the parameters set by the scheme.

"This shows the system's ability to successfully address the issue of overloading vehicles at harvest, while also ensuring growers and transporters can work within reasonable, flexible tolerances when carting grain to site."

Tutt said he was hopeful that the business rules which will apply to the scheme this harvest would be confirmed within the next few weeks.

"We will be informing growers and transporters when we have been notified of this year's rules, however, I believe they will be fairly similar to those in place last harvest," he said. "As was the case last year, the scheme will only apply to deliveries made during the harvest period from Oct. 1 to Feb. 28."

The business rules set by Main Roads WA last year required all growers and transporters to carry a copy of the Government Gazette Notice and a Carters Delivery Form (CDF) in their vehicle when delivering grain to CBH Group sites. Growers also needed to register their truck prior to delivery.