Harvest information

Potential carbendazim maximum residue limit (MRL) reduction

There has been industry news of international markets beginning discussions about reducing the carbendazim fungicide MRL to zero.

Currently no changes have been made. Carbendazim can still be used on pulse crops (as per the label) and it cannot be used on cereals and oilseeds.

Industry advice is to use alternative fungicides on pulses and transition away from carbendazim. Growers should speak with their farm advisor for advice regarding use and alternate options.

We will continue to conduct chemical residue testing on composite partition samples throughout harvest to ensure we can maintain market access for South Australian (SA) grain. If we detect contaminated grain in our segregations, our contamination procedure will be implemented. Through our traceability programme, we can trace chemical use back to the individual grower.

Haloxyfop treated canola will not be received at Viterra

From the 2024/25 harvest, we will not receive canola treated with haloxyfop. We advised this change prior to last harvest, giving growers the opportunity to review their chemical use to ensure access is maintained for SA canola to the premium European Union (EU) market.

Last year, the EU announced its intention to reduce the MRL for haloxyfop on canola. This has since been confirmed, and the regulatory change will come into effect from 19 August 2024. More information in Grain Trade Australia’s market update.

As we will not receive haloxyfop treated canola, we will continue to require a haloxyfop declaration for all canola deliveries. Accurate declarations are crucial to ensure we can maintain market access for SA growers’ grain into the EU market.

We retain samples of all canola deliveries for traceability and chemical residue testing. We monitor for haloxyfop within our network, and our contamination procedure will be implemented if grain treated with haloxyfop is delivered.

Industry advised growers to not use haloxyfop on canola from the 2023/24 season onwards to meet the EU’s expected new MRL. We thank growers for transitioning to alternate herbicides, helping us maintain access to this premium market for all SA growers.

Malt barley variety testing technology trial

We are continuing to trial technology which allows us to test the variety of malt barley samples in our laboratory. This innovative technology will help us confirm the variety of malt deliveries to ensure there is no varietal contamination within our segregations.

Maltsters require malt barley of a single variety to produce high quality malt and are investing in varietal recognition technology to confirm this. To maintain access to the premium malting market for SA growers, we must ensure we supply malt barley with high varietal purity.

We will continue to test harvest partitions regularly to ensure malt barley meets the specific requirements of end use customers, including variety.

We retain samples of all malt barley deliveries for traceability and varietal testing. If we find varietal contamination within our malt barley harvest partitions, our contamination procedure will be implemented as the segregation may need to be downgraded to feed.

GM canola: strong hygiene practices vital all year round

As preparations for the 2024/25 harvest begin, growers are reminded of the importance of maintaining strong hygiene practices when storing, handling, transporting and harvesting GM canola, as well as accurately declaring the variety and if it is genetically modified when delivering to our sites.

To ensure we meet the requirements of end users and maintain market access for growers’ canola, we test non-GM canola harvest partitions for GM canola and retain samples of all canola deliveries for traceability.  

Where we detect GM canola in non-GM segregations our contamination procedure will be implemented, including testing individual samples to determine the source of contamination.