In its September crop report Friday, GIWA portentously said wheat tonnage could swing either way over the next three weeks, depending on the weather, as the large wheat-growing areas in the east of the state were starting to run out of moisture to finish off crops. Northern escape Industry sources said crops well north of the Great Eastern Highway and closer to the coast have suffered little or no damage to frost, with wheat-yield losses seen at a maximum 10 per cent. “In most of those western parts of the Geraldton zone, they’re still on track for a pretty good harvest, and a lot of crops are looking sensational,” Mr Lamond said. In Friday’s crop report, GIWA said the Geraldton zone was on track to produce a winter crop of 2.7Mt, up 1Mt from its 2017 production, if the weather was mild over the next few weeks. The central and western areas of the zone have had almost exactly the same total rainfall for the calendar year as 2017, the difference this season being perfect timing of rainfall events. Kwinana zone mixed Wheat crops in this zone’s eastern reaches have more biomass than normal, and GIWA’s report said they could crash in coming weeks if the weather was warm and dry, but rain and mild temperatures could generate average or better yields. Most cereal crops in the Kwinana zones eastern reaches have average to above- average yield potential, but the canola crop is late and is likely to struggle to achieve average yields. Albany, Esperance impacted Along with WA’s grain powerhouse, the Kwinana zone, the Albany zone is WA’s key barley and canola-producing region, and cereal crops in its western reaches are largely on track for above-average yields. Following a poor start, prospects for crops in the southern Albany zone have picked up, but in the parts of the zone’s eastern Lakes region and in the Esperance zone, frost will compound problems caused earlier by late planting, limited rain and patchy germination.

Source - https://www.graincentral.com