Eyre Peninsula’s grain harvest has officially kicked off with Viterra taking its first load into Wudinna.
The delivery of barley was received on Monday 12 October. Viterra’s Rudall site has since taken its first delivery as well with a load of barley on Tuesday.
Viterra Operations Manager Western region Nick Pratt says the company has been working closely with its grower customers and is focused on providing an ongoing valuable and efficient service during harvest.
“All our sites on the Eyre Peninsula are ready to go for when growers are ready to start delivering,” Nick says.
“Following strong and consistent demand for grain from our system this year, most of the grain has been outturned. Remaining stock is at historically low levels which means our sites have maximum storage capacity and segregations available.
“We have seen grain move at a rapid pace and we continue to see this demand ready for new season grain to start coming in which is reflected in the strong shipping schedule from our Eyre Peninsula export terminals for the upcoming months.
“We have around 40 buyers in our system providing growers with access to domestic and export markets when they choose to sell their grain.”
Nick says one of the key priorities every harvest, is to ensure Viterra’s services on the Eyre Peninsula continue to meet growers’ needs including opening hours, segregations and access to state-of-the-art infrastructure.
“I have been travelling around the Eyre Peninsula attending local grower meetings in the last couple of weeks to speak to growers and understand what their needs are over harvest,” Nick says.
“The season is looking promising with many growers feeling positive about their crops, and the recent rainfall which has been welcomed by growers throughout the region.
“Growers delivering into our sites this harvest, can enjoy the extra benefit of warehouse to cash which is a new service we released ahead of this harvest, which enables growers to instantly sell and transfer their warehoused grain to a cash price.
“We’re continuing to provide wheat and barley dynamic binning and have been able to gain further efficiencies which are being passed on to our grower customers through Export Select rates which have reduced at all our sites and storage and handling fees.”
Viterra’s receival fees at all upcountry sites for all commodities and grades remain the same as last harvest, and for the second consecutive year, major wheat and other barley has not increased at upcountry sites.
Viterra invests around $40 million into its sites each year to provide an even higher level of service during the harvest season.
