Poor yields and quality, particularly for barley, are being widely reported, as the Victorian grains harvest comes to an end.
Croppers in the north-west should be finished by tomorrow, while the harvest was expected to be completed in the Wimmera within the fortnight, Emerald Grain south-east manager Ben Fleay said.
“Quality wise, wheat has been sound, but yields have been poor, but for barley the quality and yield has been poor,” Mr Fleay said.
Grain handlers estimated the crop would be down by between 10 and 20 per cent, on last season. Mr Fleay said the harvest was very poor in the Wimmera and parts of the Mallee last year.
“It will be well down on last year, 20 pc plus lower than last year, across the state,” Mr Fleay said. Earlier this week, Graincorp reported total receivals of 624,800 tonnes, since October 1.
AWB pools manager Charlie Brown said he expected a drop of about 10 pc.
“To date harvest quality has been quite mixed,” Mr Brown said.
Quality wise, wheat has been sound, but yields have been poor, but for barley the quality and yield has been poor.
- Ben Fleay
“We are seeing quite good quality in wheat, generally high in protein and low screenings – probably a reflection that the crop was stressed all season and hence never tried to fill more grains than it actually could, given the low moisture available.”
Mr Fleay said most barley was coming in between F2 and F4 and was likely to be released into the feed market. Mr Brown agreed most barley would go for feed, as it had high screenings and low retention.
“In canola, overall early harvest has seen lower oil contents, particularly through the Wimmera and central Victorian region, but the later harvest through the north east has seen oil content improve,” Mr Brown said.
“Quality issues remain evident nationally, with high screenings from the hot September period. Over the past week, we have not seen a great deal of movement in domestic prices as global markets remain quiet and grower selling has been relatively slow.”
“It is anticipated that over the next few weeks we can expect to see some action as growers look to further their sales which could test the depth of the market.”
Mr Brown said global and domestic markets had continued their lacklustre form.
