WA’s record harvest run ends

Western Australia’s grain harvest has shrunk by nearly 50 per cent from the record highs of recent years, though yield improvements are buffering farmers against increasingly unpredictable rains.

Harvest results for 2023 released on Tuesday by the Grains Industry Association of WA show 14.5 million tonnes of grain was received in the season, below the five-year average of 18 million tonnes.

That is down from 26mt in 2022 and 24mt in 2021, but is a better result than the 11.3mt harvested from a similar area in 2019 with significantly less rainfall.

GIWA’s annual season wrap-up put that success down to production system improvements spurred by a need for producers to adapt to changing weather pattens and a drying, warming climate.

About 8.5 million hectares of land was cropped in 2023. While that figure was down on 2022, GIWA noted uncertainty around live export would likely drive an increase in cropping this season as pastures for sheep are converted.

The report also warned tight budgets in northern and eastern growing regions could be further stretched should significant autumn rain fail to fall, which could also result in a rotation from canola into wheat.

Canola plantings in the state were down 14 per cent last season to a little under 1.9 million hectares.

GIWA Grain Harvest Report

• 2023: 14.5mt
• 2022: 26.06mt
• 2021: 24mt
• 2020: 16.6mt
• 2019: 11.29mt
• 2018: 17.91mt
• 2017: 14.27mt
• 2016: 18.16mt
• 2015: 14.82mt

Planting of niche crops such as faba beans, lentils and chickpeas is expected to remain steady due to erratic prices and limited marketing.

Breaking down into regional zones, GIWA described Geraldton’s as a “stinker” of a year with just 1.5mt produced, down from 4.3mt one year prior.

Harvesting of wheat, barley, canola and lupins collapsed in the region. Oats and pulses, which make up a minor portion of production, were steady.

GIWA said 2023 was one of the lowest effective rainfall years on record.

"[There was] little sub-soil moisture reserves, and for the region to produce over one million tonnes of wheat is an incredible result,” it said.

“It has been a very hot, dry summer to date with growers not able to get out in the paddocks recently due to vehicle movement bans and the risk of fires, and this current pattern does not look like changing.

“The region grew very few lupins in 2023 and the recent increase in barley area will probably be put on hold as barley did not handle the 2023 seasonal conditions well at all.”

The Esperance and Kwinana zones had mixed years, with each region contracting by about 50 per cent from record highs.

The impact of adverse weather on the Albany region was less severe, with the southern cropping area’s production shrinking by 25 per cent.

Albany zone’s high yields in recent years contracted somewhat to about 2t/ha for canola and around 4t/ha for wheat and barley.

GIWA’s whole-of-sector report backs similar sentiment revealed in CBH Group’s season grain receivals released in January.

CBH, by far the dominant player in WA, receivals fell 45 per cent to 12.5mt in the 2023 season, down from 22.7mt the previous year.