SOUTH AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA —  Yorke Peninsula, Australia, grain growers achieve above-average yields this harvest, with Viterra’s three Yorke Peninsula sites bringing in the state’s largest receival totals.

Viterra’s Wallaroo (476,000 tonnes), Port Giles (457,000 tonnes) and Ardrossan (361,000 tonnes) sites made up its top 3 receival sites during 2017-18.

Jack Tansley, operations manager for the Central region, said a strong finish to the season boosted local crops, particularly in the southern areas.

“Crops around the Port Giles area in particular performed a lot better than other areas and finished off well which was a great surprise for growers down there,” Tansley said. “We wish to thank all our grower customers for their support this harvest.

“Port Giles’ total wasn’t far off last year’s record and quite an achievement given the below-average result for the rest of the state,” Tansley said. “Ardrossan’s lentil crop was also bigger than expected, and Wallaroo continues to be our busiest receival site.”

As harvest comes to a close, Viterra’s total receivals for 2017-18 reached 5.6 million tonnes.

Tansley said while this year’s harvest was down on last year’s record receivals, it was a challenging season with ongoing weather events.

“We extended opening hours as much as possible this year, particularly in the leadup to weather events,” Tansley said. “All our teams worked hard to keep trucks moving and Port Giles and Ardrossan broke new daily receival records. A new 40m-long road train weighbridge was also installed at Port Giles to improve delivery efficiencies.”

Viterra has released its annual postharvest survey to seek feedback from growers on its harvest operations.

“We encourage growers to share their views about our harvest operations, customer service and communication,” Tansley said. “The feedback is important to help us improve our services for future harvests.”

Growers can visit the Viterra website to access the survey, which will remain open until Feb. 18.