Welcome to our first Harvest Report for the 2022-23 season

CBH Operations Update

While this year’s harvest officially kicked off on Tuesday 27 September with a canola load at the Geraldton Terminal, the wet, cooler weather across the state resulted in most growers pausing their harvesting plans to wait for crops to dry out. 

Over the past two weeks, grain receivals have ramped up with grain now received across all zones and the majority of sites expected to open in the next few weeks.   

Chief Operations Officer Mick Daw said that the relatively early and soft start to harvest had enabled the CBH team to effectively utilise this time to reduce carry.  

“While recent rainfall events have slowed most growers down, the CBH team has been using this time effectively and working hard to clear out as much carry as we can to port to allow us to increase upcountry storage capacity.” 

“Thanks to another record-breaking shipping month, we have successfully reduced the carry position to below 3 million tonnes, which has put us in a great position for harvest.” 

“Over the past two weeks, grain receivals have significantly picked up with approximately 2.4 million tonnes delivered across the state. All commodities are now in the system, with approximately 60 per cent of our receivals made up of canola”.  

“While harvest is still in its early stages, grower feedback has indicated that yields, at this stage are higher than predicted.”  

Mr Daw reminded growers that although it is an exciting time of year, CBH is encouraging everyone to stay safe.  

“With everyone expecting another large harvest, we know that pressures are high to get the crop off quickly and efficiently. However, we are encouraging everyone to do the right thing, be patient and stay safe.” 

“We are working hard to balance the expected pressure on cycle times at larger sites to ensure that we can maximise throughput as best we can.” 

“However, we have a lot of new harvest casuals working on site so please be friendly and remain patient as they continue to learn and help us safely receive this large crop.” 

Zone Summary

Albany Zone

• Harvest in the Albany zone is just starting, with the Lake Grace and Jerramungup areas receiving the most deliveries so far. The slow start to harvest is largely attributed to growers battling high moisture levels to allow them to deliver.  
• To date, CBH has received 95,400 tonnes in the Albany Zone, the majority of which has been canola. Canola quality has been good so far. 
• All areas in the Albany Zone have sites open and the average cycle time is sitting at 41.1 minutes. 

Esperance Zone

• Harvest is progressing slowly in the Esperance Zone due to rainfall over the past month and throughout October. When there has been a break in the weather, tonnages were steady, with the highest day of receivals so far reaching 41.829 tonnes. This is approximately 10,000 tonnes behind where the Esperance Zone was at the same time last year with daily receivals.  
• The total tonnage for the zone currently sits at 237,000 tonnes. Canola is the dominant crop being received with barley and wheat receivals still slow. 
• More rainfall is forecasted over the coming week, which is frustrating for staff and growers within the zone.  
• We are starting to see the impacts of the weather with crops starting to layover, which could cause an issue with harvest and quality. 
• All sites are open except Dunn Rock and Shark Lake, with the latter site expected to open as soon as the weather passes and receivals pick up.  The average cycle time for the zone is 56 minutes. 

Geraldton Zone

• The Geraldton Zone has received 1,042,000 tonnes to date, with pretty minimal weather delays compared to the rest of the State, however cooler weather has meant this year’s harvest is coming in slower than normal.   
• Geraldton has received approximately 46% canola, 38% wheat, 10% lupins, and 6% feed barley.  
• Yields and grain quality are better than what many growers expected, with good oil content for canola and higher protein wheat than expected. 
• All sites in the Geraldton Zone are open except for Latham and Marchagee, with an average cycle time of 47.2 minutes. 

Kwinana North Zone

• Harvest in the Kwinana North Zone has been affected by weather events, with hail damage being reported across the zone.  
• Receivals are starting to pick back up as the weather heats up with 783,000 tonnes taken to date. 
• The majority of the grain received so far is canola and barley, with only small amounts of oats, lupins and wheat, with the quality of both canola and barley quite good. 
• The majority of sites in the Kwinana North Zone are now open, with an average cycle time of 41.8 minutes. 

Kwinana South Zone

• Harvest progress has been slow due to weather events experienced across the Kwinana South Zone, with 282,000 tonnes received for the zone to date. 
• Canola is still the dominant grain, followed by barley which is now being received in most areas. Wheat loads have been received in Areas 10 and 11, with some lupins and oats also received at sites offering those segregations.   
• Grain quality has been good in general and some sites have reported Maximus barley varieties going at 50% malt. Canola moisture has also been very good.
• All sites should run normal opening times this week. The Avon site was opened this past Sunday, to make up for the time lost due to weather during the week.  
  

   

CBH Harvest Heroes

Each year, our existing CBH employees are joined by hundreds of harvest casuals, and as a team they work together to receive the WA crop as safely and efficiently as possible. We again 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.  

Meet 'Spud’ aka Hayden Johnson and Jesse Adamini who are both Receival Point Operators (RPOs) for Area 1 and Harvest Site IC’s for Narngulu, and have been nominated as our first 2022/23 Harvest Heroes.  

Hayden and Jesse have both worked at CBH for three harvests and have been nominated as they have already broken the daily receival record for Narngulu with over 10,470 tonnes received on 3 November 2022, beating the previous record of 9,400 tonnes!

Manager for Area 1, Cory Foot said that they are great operators who bring energy to the team and run a tight ship at Narngulu.   

“Managing a site like Narngulu at harvest with over 20 harvest casuals and capacity to receive over 350,000 tonnes, is no mean feat and they do a great job of it.” 

Thank you, Hayden and Jesse, for your contribution to the CBH Group.