BATTLING floodwaters, increased rainfall and the ongoing issue of damaged roads, this harvest season has been unlike any other for grain growers across the Mallee.
And while it isn’t over yet, Quambatook farmer and GrainGrowers chair Brett Hosking believes that what has come off the paddocks so far is demonstrative of the resilience and perseverance of local farmers.
“I think it’s a testament to the growers, without a doubt – that despite the multiple setbacks, they seem to have been able to get on and wherever possible and take advantage of whatever circumstances they have been dealt and have been able to produce some good crops,” Mr Hosking told The Guardian.
“There are still some growers out there that lost everything in the floods, and certainly it can be the difference of a couple of hundred metres in some cases where floodwater went through one person’s property and missed the neighbours property and the neighbour is harvesting some really good crops while the guy 100 metres away has lost everything.
“It’s cruel to be honest, but it is the reality of the season.”
Mr Hosking said the impacts of the La Nina weather event have been evident as harvest goes on, with diseases such as stripe rust causing damage to crops.
“Without a doubt everything has taken a hit with the weather we have had, both yield and quality,” Mr Hosking said.
“That being said, there is still some very good crops out there and some very good quality grain out there.”
As of January 3, Victorian GrainCorp up-country sites, including GrainCorp Quambatook, have received 1,300,030 tonnes in grain receivals since December 19, with over 3,000,000 tonnes received in total for the 2022/23 harvest season in Victoria alone.
“Receival sites have operated quite well, and for the most part have been fairly responsive to the season, so they have made adjustments to grades as some of the crops have come off and they have recognised some of the impacts that the weather has had on the quality of the grain in particular and they have segregated the grain to make sure they can receive the grain whenever possible,” Mr Hosking said.
“In my experience, turnaround times have been relatively good, as has the delivery experience.”
However, weather-damaged roads have been one of the main challenges Mr Hosking and other local farmers have had to contend with, ensuring they get have access to both their crops and grain receival sites.
“In our case, we had to run our grader blade over part of a local government road ourselves just to be able to get access to our paddocks, which is probably not what we are meant to do, but I think there is a lot of growers in the same position,” Mr Hosking said.
“The flooding happened right on the cusp of harvest, and in fairness to the local government, they weren’t given the opportunity really to be able to get out there and repair the roads in time for the harvest demand.
“Hopefully we will start to see a bit of activity on roads over the coming months – everything from the smallest of dirt roads to some of our main VicRoads roads all need some very major attention following the events we have seen.”
