South Australia’s harvest is officially underway with leading Australian agriculture company Viterra receiving the first load of barley (BAR1) at its Port Pirie site.
Mambray Creek grower Ben Bussenschutt, who made the first delivery, says he and his family are looking forward to a good season.
We’ve started harvest later than usual due to above average rainfall in August and September which really helped and revived everything after a dry July,” Ben says.
“I’m happy with how the crops are looking and with the prices where they’re at, it’s shaping up to be a very good year.
“Our first load had low screenings and a good test weight which is great, and I was stoked to bring my son along in the truck to Viterra for the first time."
Viterra Central region Operations Manager, Jack Tansley says it’s great to see what is expected to be a bumper harvest kicking off.
“Our sites are ready for when growers want to deliver to us. We’ll be working closely with them to understand when they’re going to start and matching our opening hours to suit,” Jack says.
“We’re focused on helping growers get through this season as smoothly as possible. Our network allows us to provide a flexible and efficient service with extended opening hours, multiple segregations and a range of services on offer.”
Viterra is currently forecasting the second largest grain crop production on record for South Australia at 11.4 million tonnes. This includes record wheat production of 6.85 million tonnes, record canola and the second largest barley and pulses crop.
With continuing favourable conditions, the crop has the potential to surpass the previous all time record of 11.79 million tonnes produced in 2016/17.
Viterra Chief Operations Officer, James Murray says Viterra has been increasing its storage capacity in preparation for the harvest to meet growers’ needs.
“We’re expanding our storage capacity in the Western and Eastern regions through recommissioning closed bunkers, sheds and sites and building new bunkers,” says James.
“With this investment in extra storage, our already existing 10 million tonnes of capacity and very low carryover, Viterra is in a great position to receive the big harvest.
“We also have very low carry-over stocks and over 45 buyers ready to purchase new season grain including a record breaking 18 exporters who have forward booked a record breaking 7 million tonnes of 2022/23 season grain.
“This is a fantastic result for growers who deliver into the Viterra network and shows the high demand for their grain from our system.”
Viterra has also increased the number of jobs available across its network for the harvest season, and introduced financial incentives for those looking, to help with the record forecast crop.
“To ensure we can provide an efficient service to growers during their busiest time, we’ve opened up an additional 150 harvest jobs, taking the total across our 55 sites to 1650 jobs.”
