Growers deliver 20 million tonnes to CBH with more to come

Operations Update

*Tonnes stated are accurate as of Monday morning, 3 January 2022. 

For the first time, WA growers have delivered over 20 million tonnes to the CBH network, passing this new milestone on Wednesday 29th December.

While many growers have now finished harvest for the season, Acting Chief Operations Officer Mick Daw acknowledged that there is a lot more grain still to be delivered, especially in the Albany zone.

"Christmas gave everyone involved with harvest a brief break, but the job is far from done," Mick said. "There could be another couple of million tonnes to be delivered, based on the industry forecast. We need to stay focused on getting the remaining crop in safely and efficiently for our growers, clean up sites and transition to outloading."

This focus on safety includes the introduction of contactless delivery for all sites and terminals for the remainder of harvest, following the positive COVID-19 cases and restrictions put in place by the WA Government. 

"Notification of this was sent to all CDF app users on Thursday morning. An email with more information has been sent to growers and transporters. We ask that you contact your local Area Manager if any questions on this," Mick said.

When delivering grain to CBH, growers and transporters will need to: 

• Use their CDF app to minimise interactions with CBH employees where possible. 
• Entry into the sample hut will not be permitted unless instructed. 
• Ensure physical distance of 1.5 metres is maintained if you need to get out of the truck at the grid. 
• If you have been to the Perth and Peel regions since 6.00pm 23 December 2021, please wear a mask on site, particularly if you are indoors.  

Any changes to this procedure will be communicated through the CDF app, as will changes on the availability of services, including temporary and permanent closures. If these closures do occur, the CDF app should also be used to determine where alternative services are available at surrounding sites. If you have any issues with the CDF app, please contact the Grower Service Centre. 

Zone Summary

Albany Zone

• The Albany zone has now broken its all-time receival record, receiving 4,040,000 tonnes, of which 710,000 tonnes was received in last 14 days. Receivals were slowed down by the Christmas break and harvest bans. 
• Seven sites have broken their one day receival record and 14 sites have broken their all time receival records. This includes Cranbrook, which over the weekend surpassed the previous site record of just over 470,000 tonnes.
• The majority of growers are delivering wheat and barley.
• All primary sites are still open and are receiving grain, although some segregations are full and closed. Over the next 2-7 days there will be sites that will fill and close.

 

Esperance Zone

• Most growers in the Esperance zone have completed harvest, with receivals tailing off since Christmas.
• The zone total is just over 3,475,000 tonnes, with 155,000 tonnes received in the last 14 days.
• Key primary sites with capacity will remain open into 2022 to receive the remainder of the harvest.

 

Geraldton Zone

• Receivals in the Geraldton zone have decreased significantly since Christmas, with most growers finishing harvest for the year. 
• The zone total is 3,840,000 tonnes, with 180,000 tonnes delivered in the last 14 days.
• A few primary sites will remain open for receivals into January to service the remaining growers in those areas.

 

Kwinana North Zone

• The Kwinana North Zone has now received a record crop of 4,970,000 tonnes, with 505,000 tonnes received in the last 14 days.
• Although receivals will continue into 2022, only the major sites will remain open to receive the rest of the crop.

 

Kwinana South Zone

• The Kwinana South Zone has received 4,095,000 tonnes, with 560,000 tonnes received in the last 14 days.
• A number of sites will remain open into January, especially in the south of the zone. Some sites will fill and close within the next week.

 

Market Update

The majority of the markets remain quiet with international buyers predominantly on holidays for the Christmas/New Year period and most shipping slots for the first half of 2022 covered by marketers.  APW1 was at $380 per tonne, Feed Barley at $270 per tonne and canola at $830 per tonne FIS Kwinana with little grower selling at these price current price levels.

Wheat

The Russian wheat tax is now at USD94.90 per tonne and based on current values is likely to increase to USD98.80 for the second half of January. This is resulting in Russian wheat being uncompetitive in a number of markets, providing opportunities for Australian wheat to displace a proportion of Russian wheat in key South East Asian and Middle Eastern markets. While a positive for Australian wheat, these taxes do not historically last in perpetuity and therefore we need to be mindful that any change to the tax may have a negative impact on wheat values.

Barley

The barley market is still very quiet with little interest from the feed sector outside of the Middle East. While there is optimism that South East Asia will be a buyer in the new year , it may not be evident until post-Chinese New Year.

Harvest Heroes

Each year, our existing CBH staff are joined by hundreds of harvest employees, and as a team they work together to receive the WA crop as safely and efficiently as possible. We want to highlight some of these harvest heroes who help make our grain supply chain the best in the world, and make harvest our favourite time of year.

Rowie Furniss is based in Jerramungup as a Receival Point Operator (RPO) this harvest, but has been working for CBH on and off for over ten years. This includes time as a sampler, RPO and an administrator in the Jerramungup area and a grain quality technician at the Australian Grains Centre (AGC) in Forrestfield.

This experience has given Rowie a wealth of knowledge in site operations and grain quality and made her indispensable to her colleagues this harvest.

Rowie has been a Jill-of-all-trades this season, starting out by completing administrative tasks including putting together and sending out the safety and information packs for casual staff, ordering and distributing supplies for sites and supporting the Area Manager, Operations Coordinator and other permanent staff as required for harvest set-up.

When harvest kicked off, she filled in as a sampler when sites were temporarily short-staffed due to employees going to exams. When sites were fully staffed, Rowie's focus switched to supporting permanent staff by taking phone calls from growers and site staff to help troubleshoot any issues they were having. Her problem-solving skills meant that that many issues did not have to be escalated to central teams, saving time and lowering stress levels!

Amongst the phone calls, Rowie also helped with identifying unusual weed seeds or grain defects and monitoring grain quality by assessing samples from sites and those from on-farm silo bag storage. She also loves data entry and took this task on, which her colleagues are forever grateful for!

Rowie does everything she’s asked with a smile and is always willing to find the answer if she doesn’t have it at hand. Her CBH colleagues in the Jerramungup area hope she makes it back for another season! 

It’s people like Rowie who make up our team of Harvest Heroes.

(Jerramungup Receival Point Operator Rowie Furniss).