WHILE harvest has started to wrap up around Western Australia, particularly in the Geraldton and Esperance zones, large volumes of grain have continued to be delivered to CBH Group receival sites.
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In the week from December 7 to 13, almost 1.9 million tonnes of grain was received, taking the current total for 2020 to 13.3mt as of Monday morning.
CBH chief operations officer Ben Macnamara said some sites around WA were continuing to break receival records.
"We had five sites break daily receivals records this week including Ballidu, Merredin, Wickepin, Cranbrook and Borden," Mr Macnamara said.
"They join eight other sites that have achieved record daily volumes this season.
"These records have been made possible by our significant investment into expanding and enhancing our network sites, and grower investment in equipment to increase their harvest capacity."
Deliveries in the Geraldton zone are starting to taper off, with 250,000t delivered in the week to Monday, taking totals for the area to 2.6mt.
Some lupins and canola are still being received and the quality of all grains remains good, despite some disruptions due to thunderstorms.
A total of 3.3mt had been received in the Kwinana north zone as of Monday morning, with 470,000t of that received between December 7 and 13.
Harvest bans on Wednesday and Thursday slowed down deliveries, but Ballidu and Merredin still managed to break daily receivals records with 6922t and 15,325t respectively
Small volumes of sprouted grain have come into the system in the Regans Ford area which will be closely monitored, however quality across the rest of the zone remains good.
The majority of deliveries in Kwinana south have now been made up of wheat, with total grain receivals sitting at 2.4mt, 350,000t of which was delivered in the week to Monday.
Growers in the zone benefited from consistent harvesting conditions until the end of last week when wet weather disrupted activity in some parts, but the Wickepin site still broke its daily receivals record with 5812t on Friday.
Growers in the north of the zone are beginning to finish their harvest programs and some smaller sites will see opening hours reduced as receivals volumes drop.
In the Albany zone, between December 7 and 13, 490,000t was delivered, taking total receivals to 2.5mt.
Barley has made up almost 50 per cent of receivals and wheat about 30pc - the quality of that grain remains good, with about 40pc of barley making malt grade, the majority of wheat making Australian Standard White (ASW) grade and about 80pc of oat deliveries grading as OAT1.
The Borden and Cranbrook sites broke their daily receivals record with 13,150t and 20,314t respectively.
Significant volumes of grain delivered in the Esperance zone last week were from on-farm storage, that is expected to continue over the next weeks as growers finish their harvest programs.
Following the delivery of 320,000t in the week to Monday, receivals sit at 2.5mt, exceeding estimates.
At this point, wheat has made up the bulk of receivals and quality remains good, with site opening times to be reviewed as receival volumes continue to drop.
Mr Macnamara said as the CBH team worked with growers and transporters to receive the remaining crop, safety would remain front of mind.
"As we near the end of the harvest period, we're very wary of managing fatigue to ensure our employees and growers return home safely at the end of each day.
"As the pace of harvest increases, we will continue investing in our network to ensure we can provide an efficient service to growers when they need it most."
