Monday 5 August to Sunday 1 September 2024 report

While 2023/24 deliveries have slowed significantly with growers delivering less than 400 tonnes to Viterra in August, planning and preparation for the 2024/25 harvest continues.

Viterra hosted its annual preharvest grower meeting last week, bringing together 120 silo committee members, grower representatives, local and international guests and Viterra employees.

Over the two day event, attendees heard about topics including Viterra’s plans for the upcoming harvest, business updates and future focuses, and commodity market outlooks.

Viterra General Manager Operations, Gavin Cavanagh says it was great to catch up with growers ahead of harvest.

“Our annual preharvest meeting gives us an opportunity to reconnect with growers before we head into the busiest time of the year for the grain industry,” Gavin says.

“We were able to speak about our plans for the harvest and receive input from growers through lots of engaging and open discussions, as well as explain how we are continuing to make the South Australian supply chain more efficient to compete with interstate and international markets.

“Breaking into regional groups to finish the conference allowed us to focus on site and region specific harvest planning, discussing topics such as segregations, elevation capacity and harvest recruitment.”

Gavin says Viterra was pleased to welcome several international and local guest speakers to present at the conference.

“It was great to hear from a number of our international buyer customers, including Sanwa, Zenbak, Mitsui and Xiamen C&D, who gave growers insight into their businesses and what happens to South Australian grain once it reaches its destination,” Gavin says.

“A highlight for attendees was the opportunity to taste shochu with representatives from some of Viterra’s Japanese barley end use customers and processors who produce the Japanese distilled spirit."

Attendees also heard from Coopers Brewery Maltings Manager, Dr. Doug Stewart who spoke about Coopers Brewery as one of Viterra’s local domestic buyer customers, and the malt barley accreditation process.

Other guest speakers we put on for attendees included RaboResearch General Manager ANZ, Stefan Vogel who shared a current market update and outlook for grain markets, production and fertiliser, Grain Producers SA (GPSA) chair, John Gladigau on some of the challenges SA growers are facing and how GPSA is working to help overcome these and National Residue Survey (NRS) Director Residue Chemistry & Laboratory Performance Evaluation, James Deller who spoke about why applying chemicals within maximum residue limits is vital for maintaining market access.

Disclaimer
* This data is subject to variation due to individual site operations and the timing of reports.
** The total 2023/24 data includes grain received into Viterra’s storage and handling network since 25 September 2023.