SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — In its final harvest report issued on Dec. 19, CBH said it has revised down its harvest to 13 million tonnes due to yields being 15% less than growers had originally expected.

CBH had originally estimated a harvest of 13.45 million tonnes. Total receivals were at 12,708,276 tonnes. A statement with the final harvest figure will be issued in January, the company said.

CBH General Manager of Operations David Capper said despite a range of unforeseen weather events, quality held up well for most growers.

“It has been a very stop start harvest and there will be some grain coming in slowly from here,” he said. “CBH would like to say thank you to everyone for your support and patience this harvest. It’s been a frustrating year for a lot of people, and we will continue to do everything we can to support growers bringing in the remaining crop.”

The total received to date for Geraldton Zone is 1,871,551 tonnes, with harvest essentially complete with all country sites closed. The port is still open with the last few deliveries coming in. It has been a disappointing harvest for many growers in that area, CBH said.

The total received to date for Kwinana Zone is 5,975,607 tonnes, with harvest close to completion. The zone will have an above average crop, but yields did not live up to many growers’ expectations, CBH said. The ongoing rain during harvest caused some frustrations with the pace of harvest slowed due to patchy rain.

Despite this overall quality held up well across the zone. Protein and screenings in the north of the zone were generally very good, but some areas in the south of the zone did have some disappointing results with protein.

CBH Kwinana Zone Manager Gavin Bignell said there will be only a small number of sites open after Christmas and growers should check with local staff when delivering the remaining grain.

The total received to date for Albany Zone is 2,891,688 tonnes. The zone had a long awaited week of good weather which led to 684,000 tonnes being delivered in the last seven days. With such large volumes of grain being received, pressure was placed on a number of sites from both a storage space and throughput perspective.

Emergency storages built prior to harvest at Wagin, Borden and Broomehill are now being utilized.

Albany Zone Manager Greg Thornton said a solid shipping program planned for the next couple of weeks will allow services that had been temporarily suspended at the terminal to reopen.

“We will restart rail and road transport to support outlying receival points,” he said.

While many harvest programs are starting to wind up in the north of the zone, receivals will continue into the New Year, with more inclement weather forecast the remaining grain to be harvested could be further delayed.

“It’s good to see that despite the unseasonal rain received during harvest, grain quality in the main continues to hold up well for most growers,” said Thornton.

The total received to date for Esperance Zone is 1,969,430 tonnes with harvest drawing to a close, with a long awaited run of reasonable weather which has enabled growers to get the last bit of the crop off.

It has been an extremely frustrating finish to the season with many growers struggling to get the moisture down below 12.5%.

Esperance Zone Manager Mick Daw said the season has exceeded many growers’ expectations in relation to yields and the quality has held on as well given the amount of rain received over the harvest period.

“The upgrades at Chadwick have worked very well and the site handled some very busy days of up to 30,000 tonnes.  It has been pleasing to see it work so well,” said Daw.