A large area sown, an early start to planting and warm growing conditions were among the factors that led to the 2022 season’s hefty grain harvest.
A large area sown, an early start to planting and warm growing conditions were among the factors that led to the 2022 season’s hefty grain harvest of 24 million tonnes, according to the Grain Industry Association of Western Australia’s final crop report.
The report said this combination of factors, along with good subsoil moisture, higher than average fertiliser use and mild conditions during grain fill, rarely occurred over such a wide area as it did in the 2021 season.
The total crop was 20 per cent higher than previous record year in 2016 when 18.1mt was harvested, and 30.8 per cent larger than the total in 2021.
Harvests of all grain types were larger than those in 2016.
In 2021, 12.9mt of wheat was harvested, compared to 10.2mt of wheat in the previous record season.
Total barley tonnage also increased substantially from 4.2mt tonnes in 2016 to 6.4mt tonnes in 2021.
However, the year brought challenges to some regions with severe frosts in the central grainbelt and waterlogging over large areas in the south and western rim of the grainbelt.
Fortunately for most, the mild finish to the season allowed these areas to recover to some extent.
Growers in Geraldton and Esperance recorded record years.
Those in the Kwinana Zone had an above average year overall, with those in the Kwinana North Midlands posting a good year financially, growers in Kwinana South harvesting record amounts and those in Kwinana North East ending up with average or above average yields.
In the Albany Zone, Albany East and Albany South had record years and growers in Albany West had a good year financially but were impacted by waterlogging and frost.
Grain co-operative CBH Group was responsible for collecting 21.3 mt of grain, its largest ever harvest.
In a year when all other states, except South Australia, harvested record or near-record crops, Western Australia produced over 38 per cent of the country’s national total.
Growers are now looking ahead to the 2022 season which is expected to produce a smaller harvest.
GIWA said the cost of putting in a crop had increased substantially, mostly due to high fertiliser and herbicide prices because of supply chain issues, reducing the area sown and slightly changing crop types.
It said more canola would be planted in the medium and high rainfall zones; wheat would replace barley in the higher rainfall zones due to current prices; more legumes would be sown to provide nitrogen for the crops sewn next year; and the oat area would probably remain static.
GIWA said rainfall over the next few months would have a big impact on the size of the 2022 crop area.
