Victoria’s top yielding wheat, canola, barley and lentil regions

New data has revealed Victoria’s top yielding canola, wheat, lentil and barley regions. See how your region compares.

Victorian growers recorded average canola yields of 2.3 tonnes per hectare in 2020-21.

The highest yielding Victorian regions for wheat, barley, canola and lentil production have been revealed in new data.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released last week show Corangamite and the Surf Coast have emerged as Victoria’s top yielding barley regions, while Murrindindi has topped the list for canola.

Horsham has come in at first place for highest lentil yield and Glenelg and Ararat in the state’s west have topped the list for wheat.

The data shows Victoria achieved average yields of 2.8 tonnes per hectare for barley, 3.2 tonnes per hectare for wheat, 2.3 tonnes per hectare for canola and 1.7 tonnes per hectare for lentils in 2020-21.

Grain Producers Australia southern region director Andrew Weidemann said the increasing productivity of Victorian grain growers highlighted the need for more investment in the state’s freight network.

“With the amount of produce that we’re producing, our freight network needs a real uplift,” Mr Weidemann said.

See the full list below and check how your region compares.

ABS data released last week has revealed impressive yields for wheat, barley and canola across the state. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Wheat

The top yielding Victorian local government area for wheat was the Shire of Glenelg, in the state’s far south west. Eight businesses in Glenelg achieved average yields of 5.4 tonnes per hectare over a 774 hectare area.

Equal first on the list was the shire of Ararat, which includes the fertile cropping region of Lake Bolac. In total, 175 businesses in the Ararat LGA recorded average yields of 5.4 tonnes per hectare.

At the bottom of the list was the shire of Murrindindi, which achieved 1.2 tonnes per hectare.

ABS data shows the state harvested 4,525,002 tonnes of wheat over 1,413,421ha – an average of 3.2 tonnes per hectare.

Barley

ABS figures show average yields for barley in the shire of Corangamite, which includes Cobden, Camperdown and Lismore, were an impressive 5.1 tonnes per hectare – the highest in the state.

Tied in first place at 5.1 tonnes per hectare was the shire of Surf Coast, which includes the towns of Winchelsea and Gnarwarre.

The lowest yield in the state came in at one tonne per hectare on the Bass Coast.

Victoria harvested a total of 2,918,479 tonnes of barley in 2020-21 over an area of 1,011,883 hectares – an average of 2.8 tonnes per hectare.

Canola

The top yielding Victorian local government area for canola was the central Victorian shire of Murrindindi, which includes the towns of Yea and Alexandra.

Two businesses in Murrundindi achieved yields of 3.7 tonnes per hectare over 287ha.

At the bottom of the list, Mildura recorded 1.5 tonnes per hectare, and Hume 1.2 tonnes per hectare.

The state average came in at 2.3 tonnes per hectare, with a total of 1,127,091 tonnes produced over 493,862ha.

Lentils

Producers across Victoria’s Mallee and Wimmera regions are increasingly showing the yield potential of lentils.

The highest yielding region for lentils in Victoria in 2020-21 was Horsham, which recorded an average of 2.3 tonnes per hectare over 22,698ha.

Swan Hill came in at the bottom of the list, recording a still respectable 0.8 tonnes per hectare.

The state average came in at 1.7 tonnes per hectare.