THE writing was on the wall early that the 2021-22 harvest would be one for the history books, but at just over 24 million tonnes the season broke the previous record by more than 30 per cent. According to the final Grain Industry Association of Western Australia (GIWA) crop report, the exceptional result was due to a record area sown of 9.2 million hectares - 7.8pc more than 2020 and 16pc more than previous record years).
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Good subsoil moisture across the State, an early start to planting, warm growing conditions and higher than average fertiliser usage in the winter, all combined to set up very high yield potential for all crops, followed by very mild conditions during grain fill. This combination of factors rarely occurs over such a wide area as it did in the 2021 season. WA still produced more than 38pc of Australia's grain in a year when all of the Eastern States, with the exception of South Australia, harvested record or near-record crops. The national total was a record 62mt for all grains. Crop report author Michael Lamond said the year was not without challenges and the severe frosts in September wiped out at least 2mt of grain in the central grainbelt. "Many growers in this region only just made a profit, which was heartbreaking considering how good things looked up until the frosts hit," Mr Lamond said. "There was also severe waterlogging over large areas in the south and western rim of ...
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