Australia: warm weather allows good harvest progress

After a slow start to the 2021 grain harvest, the onset of warmer weather across southern Queensland has allowed farmers to make some reasonable progress.

Temperatures were in the low 30s for most of last week and soared into the high 30s on Saturday. Drier weather and low humidity finally allowed harvesting to kick off earlier in the morning and extend later into the evening.

As of October 25, GrainCorp had received 736,700 tonnes of grain into its Queensland grain storages. Grain deliveries into Central Queensland grain depots is already winding down, GrainCorp said in its initial harvest update for the 2021 season. Wheat receivals are ramping up around Goondiwindi after the recent rain.

Grain deliveries are also under way in northern NSW, where GrainCorp has taken 120,700 tonnes as of October 25.

Early grain quality has been very good with a split between good quality barley and a range of wheat grades.

Yields have also been encouraging. Farmers have been reporting near record yields for wheat and barley around Goondiwindi and early harvesting in northern NSW.

Grain prices were mostly steady last week as a firmer Australian dollar offset gains in global prices. Stockfeed wheat and barley into the Darling Downs were unchanged at $335 and $295 a tonne respectively.

Export demand for Australian wheat remains robust. Exporters are already well sold for December and January with reports that Asian buyers are already starting to cover positions for February and March.

Drought has triggered additional import demand from a range of Middle Eastern grain importing countries, including Iran, Iraq and Turkey. Reports are also circulating that China has been securing more Australian wheat.

Last week the International Grains Council released its monthly supply and demand update. Global wheat production was steady at 781 million tonnes. However, it lifted its forecast for global wheat imports, saying there was little evidence that demand is slowing. The biggest increases were in China, Iran, Turkey and Iraq.

Another bumper Australian wheat crop is expected to see another season of near record large wheat exports. Final 2020/21 Australian wheat exports are expected to be close to 24mt, easily surpassing previous records.

Shipping slots are already fully booked deep into next year and another 24mt export season is possible.

Queensland Country Life

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