STAFF REPORTER
World wheat heavyweight Western Australia has broken its grain harvest record.
Deliveries to grain handler CBH yesterday pushed the amount of binned grain to 14.7 million tonnes, surpassing the 2003 record of 14.6 million.
CBH spokesman Colin Tutt said every grain-producing area had exceeded delivery expectations.
With more grain still to come, the harvest has already smashed the pre-harvest forecast for WA of 13.5 million tonnes.
“The knowledge that we have broken the record as the largest grain crop ever received in Western Australia is a fantastic achievement for everyone involved with the 2011-12 harvest which has really tested us all,” Mr Tutt said.
He said there had been significant rain delays, quality issues and challenges in moving grain to port.
“Daily delivery records have been broken at 57 of our receival sites and more than half a million man-hours were worked in the month of December, including by around 2000 harvest casuals, twice the number CBH employed last year,” Mr Tutt said.
He said a big challenge still lay ahead over coming months to move the big crop to port and, as a grower co-operative, CBH was determined to make sure it happened.
The harvest is expected to continue in some areas until the final weeks of January, with around another 200,000 tonnes likely.
