Victoria’s 2016-17 grain harvest is in its final throes, with most farmers already finished.
Deliveries into GrainCorp’s system have slowed to a trickle, with 173,000 tonnes added to its Victorian network last week. This lifted the total harvest deliveries to 3.8 million tonnes, with final deliveries expected to be 50 per cent up on 2015 volumes.
It’s been a timely bumper crop. Droughts in 2014 and 2015 had taken a heavy financial toll on many farmers. Low prices have limited the benefit of the big harvest, but massive yields mean most farmers will still enjoy a windfall. Farmers are reporting record large yields, in many cases double their longer term averages.
Benefits are already starting to flow to communities, with farmers, rural businesses, local shops and banks breathing a sigh of relief.
