THE earliest start to harvest in living memory for many South Australian grain growers has been borne out in receival figures, with an October record broken by major grain handler Viterra.
More than 925,000 tonnes was delivered by the end of the month, and 1.49 million tonnes had been tallied by November 5 as warmer weather allowed for increased harvesting.
Close to 800,000t has been delivered thus far in the western region, 578,746t has been taken in the central region, and 117,515t in the generally later-starting eastern region.
Harvest is picking up pace in the central region, with 335,000t delivered in just the past week.
Viterra central region operations manager Jack Tansley said deliveries peaked on Friday.
"Most of the Mid North sites were busy towards the end of the week with barley the major commodity received and smaller tonnages of field peas and beans into Gladstone and Balaklava," he said.
"Wallaroo had its busiest day so far this harvest on Sunday with almost 19,000t received and wheat the main commodity, while the northern Yorke Peninsula lentil harvest is starting to wind down."
In the west, 334,000t was delivered for the week, with some sites taking a consistent flow of deliveries while some areas are starting to wind down.
"Lentil receivals were solid into Yeelanna and Port Neill," Viterra western region operations manager Nick Pratt said.
"Canola and barley are also going strong into Cummins.
"Growers around the Far West are starting to wrap up their harvest, and in some cases they've already finished.
"Despite the drier conditions, growers in the area have been happy with their season with grain quality and yields in line with their predictions."
Due to warmer weather, several sites in the east opened for weekend operations and others opened their accounts for the 2023/24 harvest.
Karoonda, Keith, Wolseley and Dooen, Vic, were among the sites to welcome their first loads.
"In the northern Mallee, we continue to see strong receivals of barley and our Loxton and Werrimull (Vic) sites received their first new season wheat," Viterra eastern region operations manager Andrew Cannon said.
"Receivals into our new lentil segregation at Karoonda kicked off on Monday. We've had some great feedback from lentil growers north of the site that they're pleased to save on travel time with a new delivery point for their lentils.
"We also received our first lentils into Dooen (Vic) and Pinnaroo and new season canola at Tailem Bend and Inner Harbour."
