With the last of the grain filling bins, farmers are saying it’s the best harvest they have ever seen.
Despite the threat of more rain with a La Nina weather pattern currently in effect, the local region escaped any damaging rains with little or no interruption during the harvest.
The last La Niña event occurred from 2010-2012 which resulted in one of Australia’s wettest two-year periods on record causing widespread flooding in many parts of Australia. Ironically the 2011 year also brought with it a record harvest.Lake Rowan farmer Mick Griffin said he has not seen it this good in 30 years since being back on the farm at Bundara after exceptional seasonal rain during the growing season.
“We expected it to be good but not this good and the quality is also there,” Mr Griffin said.
“We were all a bit wary of the current La Nina event bringing more rain during the harvest, but we have been lucky with only a few stops and starts but no real delays and no crop damage.”
Mr Griffin who mainly grows canola, wheat, barley, faba beans and some oats said in a good season they normally would yield around 4 or 5 tonnes per hectare but this year it is close to 7.8-7.9 tonnes.
“It’s definitely the best I have ever seen on our cereal crops,” he said.
Third generation Burramine farmer Jamie Cummins echoed Mick Griffin’s comments saying they have had one of best yielding crops in decades after finishing their harvest last Sunday.
“Yep, it is definitely one of the best yields ever,” Mr Cummins said.
“It has been a good year for our crops with what is the highest average yield we have seen.
“There has been good consistency throughout all the paddocks with wheat, barley and canola crops all producing high yields.”
Mr Cummins, who crops 3,500 hectares, said they could have filled their eight big silos on the property twice over compared to last year when they only were able to fill just two and half.
“This (big harvest) will have a great flow on affect with farmers needing to service equipment, purchase new equipment, build sheds etc.”
In an incredible 12-month turnaround, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARES), December 2020 crop forecasts predicted farmers in this region, particularly those in the NSW Riverina were on the verge of a record harvest.
Late last week GrainCorp confirmed that many local grain receival sites were smashing records with Oaklands and Dookie topping the list with over 140,000 and 130,000 tonnes respectively. Deniliquin had a record of over 130,000 tonnes and Elmore over 160,000 tonnes.
ABARES executive director Dr Steve Hatfield-Dodds said the agriculture industry is officially set for a recovery after three years of drought-affected production.
The ABARES Australian Crop Report - December 2020 forecasts a 76 per cent rise in Australia’s 2020-21 winter crop production to 51.5 million tonnes, second only to the record 56.7 million tonnes in 2016–17.
Mr Hatfield-Dodds said production in key cropping regions in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia was boosted by favourable conditions during the critical grain development phase.
“Crops in these states were generally in very good condition at the end of winter, and the favourable rainfall during September and October was perfectly timed for the growth cycle,” Dr Hatfield-Dodds said.
“Production is expected to be a record high in New South Wales, the second highest on record in Victoria and well above average in South Australia.
“Overall, for Australia, the December forecast is a 7.4 per cent upward revision from the figure in the September 2020 Australian Crop Report.
“For the major winter crops, wheat production is forecast to increase by 106 per cent from last year to 31.2 million tonnes, the second highest on record.
“Barley production is forecast to increase by 33 per cent to 12 million tonnes, the second highest on record, and canola production is forecast to rise by 59 per cent to 3.7 million tonnes, the fifth highest on record.
“Chickpeas production is forecast to increase by 162 per cent to 737,000 tonnes and oats production is forecast to increase by 89 per cent to 1.6 million tonnes.”
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