WA grain harvest on track to challenge records

In the Eastern Wheatbelt region, Nutrien Lake King Branch Manager Ross Dunkeld says growers are pleased with how their crops are looking, and feeling confident for a good result at harvest.  

“We had a strong start to the season with excellent rainfall in February and March, which continued throughout the grain-filling period, and a softer finish. We experienced very few frost events, and are expecting yields similar to last season, which was well above average,” explained Ross. 

“Commodity prices are high so we’re hoping other factors don’t impact profit margins too much this season.” 

Bernie Quade, Agronomist at Quade AgriServices (a Nutrien profit share business) says harvest has just begun around Wyalkatcham in the Central Wheatbelt region.  

“Like the rest of Australia, our canola area is significantly increased this season, and crops are looking really good. From a weather perspective, we had the best season that anyone can remember so we’re expecting yields to be well above average,” commented Bernie. 

“Growers are generally feeling very optimistic about the way their crops are looking, but we’re all mindful of the headwinds we’ll be facing heading into the 2023 season.” 

Further east, Nutrien Merredin Branch Manager Bob Alderton says growers around Merredin and Southern Cross mainly planted wheat, barley and canola this season, which was one of the best in recent memory.  

“We had a small amount of frost this year, but the impacts of this were negligible. A good start to the season set crops up to handle a dry spell in June, but things are shaping up well now,” said Bob. 

WA is an export-focused production region, with sophisticated and efficient production, transport and port facilities. Its agribusiness sector is built on the fact that the vast majority of WA agriculture production will be exported to meet world demand.  

“The region has a reputation for producing premium products of known provenance and exceptional quality, which drives continuous demand from overseas customers,” says Olivia Agar, Mecardo’s Business Development Manager. 

“However, as we witnessed in 2021/22, a big crop can challenge WA’s supply chain and this can affect Australian growers in terms of the price received for their commodities. Ports and up-country logistics have been operating at capacity which created a longer export tail than we might normally see. With harvest now underway, this may limit basis improvement in the local cash market but wheat prices at the port of Kwinana are still holding 44% above the 10-year average and 20% above this time last year.”