Harvest Report - 13 November 2023

Total receivals for this year's harvest have now reached over five million tonnes, with four out of five zones passing the one million tonne milestone for total receivals last week.

The Esperance, Geraldton, Kwinana South and Kwinana North Zones have all received more than one million tonnes in total receivals for the year, with the Albany Zone to pass that mark this week.

The pace of harvest is slowing down in the Geraldton Zone, with sites adjusting their opening hours to reflect this. Harvest deliveries continue to remain high in the other four zones, with between 440,000 and 500,000 tonnes received in the past week in each zone.  

In the last seven days, CBH received over two million tonnes into the network.

CBH Chief Operations Officer Mick Daw said all sites and services that were planned to open this year are receiving grain.

"We are well and truly in the thick of harvest, which is evident in the high volume of grain we are receiving across all zones," Mr Daw said.

"Kwinana South had the biggest week with 501,000 tonnes delivered, followed by Esperance with 450,000 tonnes, Albany and Kwinana North with 440,000 tonnes, and Geraldton with 248,000 tonnes. 

"Pleasingly our average cycle times in the zones are low, allowing growers to safely and quickly drop their grain off and get back to harvesting.

"As the season progresses and shifts pace, we will continue to keep growers updated via the CDF app, as well as other normal channels, so please make sure your details are up to date."

Receival Statistics

Zone Summaries

Albany Zone

• The Albany Zone has received 894,000 tonnes in total, with 440,000t delivered in the last seven days.
• Canola deliveries in most of the zone have started to slow down, with barley the main commodity being delivered.
• In the southern areas of the zone, canola is still the main commodity being delivered.
• All sites across the zone are open with the zone cycle time sitting at 37.9 minutes.
• Of the 362,000 tonnes of canola delivered across the zone, 45% are GM varieties.

Esperance Zone

• The Esperance Zone received some light rainfall over the last week, although it has not hampered deliveries.
• The Zone has just passed 1,000,000 tonnes, which is approximately 40% of our estimate for total deliveries for this harvest.  
• Canola is still coming in strong to the port, however barley was the main commodity received over the past week. Wheat is slowly increasing.
• Rainfall is predicted over the coming seven days which may impact deliveries across the zone, but most growers are still expecting an early December finish to their programs.
• All sites are open with the zone cycle times averaging 41 minutes.
• There is high variation across the zone in quality due to the dry finish to the growing season. Segregations are now in place to cater for this variation. 

Geraldton Zone

• The Geraldton Zone has received 1,038,000 tonnes to date.
• We are confident that the Zone will hit our estimate of 1,200,000 tonnes and potentially even surpass this.
• H2 remains the dominant receival grade across the Zone, closely followed by APW1.
• Sites in the North have started to adjust their opening hours to reflect the harvest slowing down. 
• Geraldton, Narngulu and Moonyoonooka will switch to operate a single shift starting 16 November. CBH Yuna will close for the season on the 15 November.
• The average cycle times for the Zone is sitting at 43.3 minutes.

Kwinana North Zone

• The Kwinana North Zone has received 440,000 tonnes in the last seven days, bringing the total for the Zone to 1,159,000 tonnes, which is approximately 41% of the estimate for the year.
• Canola and barley have slowed right down, and wheat is now the main commodity being delivered.
• The average zone cycle time is 37 minutes, with all sites and services open for the season.

Kwinana South Zone

• There were some sites in the Kwinana South Zone last week receiving equal parts canola, barley and wheat, creating some new challenges with providing all wheat segregations.
• Canola receivals are starting to slow down, barley remains steady, and wheat has picked up.
• The ASW9 grade remains the highest received wheat grade, followed by APW1 and H2.
• MAXI1 is making up almost one third of all barley receivals so far.
• Lupins and oats are now coming in slowly.