EARLY week rain of up to 50mm has stifled harvest momentum across the Loddon.
Many farmers had started stripping barley crops before rain started Sunday morning.
They had already delivered more than 120,000 tonnes of barley, canola and lentils to the Boort Grain Co-op where weighbridge staff was kept busy on Saturday as farmers tried to beat predicted rains.
Graincorp silos at Mitiamo, Tandarra and Boort were also busy with receivals.
Lake Meran’s Carl Chamberlain made several deliveries to Boort Grain Co-op at the weekend.
He said early season returns had been highlighted by the quality and yield of lentils while he had been pleased with the yield from TT canola “that fits into our rotation well.”
Mr Chamberlain said early test weights for malt barley had been high.
“We’re only about a third of the way into harvest and now there’s been the rain ... 32mm alone from early Sunday to Monday morning,” he said.
“The quality has been really good. We had that dry spell but crops had held on to their stored moisture.”
Mr Chamberlain said yield and quality continued to be above long-term averages in the area.
“And they had been looking to be on par with what we have taken off in the paddocks the last four or five season.”
The Loddon’s northern areas received the heaviest falls this week compared with southern districts.
Australia is looking towards harvesting a marginally larger winter crop this season despite significant weather challenges experienced in western Victoria, according to Rabobank’s 2024-2025 Australian Winter Crop Forecast report shows.
After five consecutive average to above-average winter crops, Victoria’s harvest this year is forecast to come in at 6.8 million tonnes, due to a late seasonal break, low growing season rain and late frosts. Rain was expected to have cleared by yesterday although there may be some further harvest hampering falls at the weekend.