Scattered rain across Christmas and New Year has further delayed the final stages of Victoria’s grain harvest, making for one of the latest finishes in memory.
Ideal conditions had already extended the growing season by two to three weeks across most areas. The longer growing season resulted in bumper yields, but it also meant many growers through parts of the Wimmera, Western Districts and central Victoria were still harvesting after Christmas.
This meant grain deliveries into the bulk handling network were flowing strongly through Christmas and New Year. GrainCorp received about 1 million tonnes into Victorian storages between December 23 and January 3. This brought total harvest deliveries to about 3.2 million tonnes, almost three times the volume received in last year’s disappointing crop.