Northern NSW farmers harvest bumper crop

Harvest of winter crops in northern NSW is shaping up to be a bin buster for farmers who escaped the weather challenges further south.

Farmers in northern NSW and Queensland say harvest 2024 could be a record for the region.

The north has escaped the weather challenges of southern NSW, Victoria, and South Australia, and bumper crops are being delivered to silos.

Moree farmer Matthew Madden said he had heard of dryland wheat yields as high as 10 tonnes a hectare in his area, where harvest was shaping up better than expected.

So far, farmers have delivered a total of 667,500 to GrainCorp receival depots, with Queensland leading the way with 613,000 tonnes.

Harvest is progressing at Moree in northern NSW. Picture: Supplied

Mr Madden said he started harvesting barley on October 8, which was early.

“We have had early starts to harvest in drought years, but this is a good year, and it will also be an early start and finish for harvest,” he said.

“We were fortunate to be able to get all of our barley harvested, but then there was a week of rain, and things have slowed down.”

Mr Madden said in his area and down to the Liverpool Plains, there were some terrific yields to report.

“All of the barley in the district has been great, the wheat (harvest) is starting, and yields are phenomenal,” he said.

Mr Madden said he still had wheat and chickpeas to finish, and depending on the weather, he thought harvest could be complete in about 10 days.

“We could be finished by mid-November,” he said.

“We are just seeing huge volumes of the crop in the north, and I think when it all comes in, it could be a record year.

“Everybody’s crops are good to well above average.”

Scott and Krystal Muller of Biloela in Queensland. Picture: Supplied

Central Queensland farmer Scott Muller from Biloela said he had some peas and a little wheat to finish before harvest was complete at his place.

“There has been some really good yields from the season we were dealt,” he said.

Mr Muller said there were yields of 5t/ha for chickpeas. Usually, 4t/ha would be considered a good result.

“To pull averages of ‘five’ for chickpeas is great and people might actually make a dollar out of this harvest,” he said.

Dryland wheat and barley in his area were also averaging a healthy 5t/ha.

“I would say there are better than expected yields across the board,” he said.

“We are scrambling to get everything done before we get storms later today ... hopefully, we can have everything finished by tomorrow.”

Farmers harvest some bumper crops at Moree in northern NSW. Picture: Supplied

Tamworth farmer Ian Coxhead said he had been busy making oaten hay but hadn’t started windrowing crops yet.

“It’s a guessing game as far as the weather goes,” he said.

“Because of the cooler weather, everything has slowed down a little bit.”

Mr Coxhead said the region still wasn’t clear of the threat from storms, and there was hail forecast for this week.

Delungra farmer Norm Thomas said he was also concerned about late-season hail storms.

He said there had already been some losses in his area from earlier storms.

“We have some magnificent crops in this area; I’m hoping they don’t get hit by hail,” he said.