This season's crops are looking better than they have in years, but the logistics involved in getting them off could be a challenge, with grain receival sites and growers expected to contend with both rainfall and COVID-19 safety regulations during harvest.
GrainCorp general manager of operations Nigel Lotz said due to the drought some of their NSW sites haven't seen much throughput in recent years, but a significant amount of work has gone into preparing for the 2020 harvest.
"We have been focusing on our strategic capital works, for example out at Coonamble we have a new railroad we're commissioning, we've had bunker works right through the network and the maintenance program, coupled with casual recruitment and the COVID safe side of things," Mr Lotz said.
"The wheels are now turning, there were a few glitches at the start as there always is when we get going but we're well underway now."
Contactless sites
In terms of COVID-19 safety, GrainCorp is aiming to have almost contactless sites, focusing on digital processes to reduce the movement of truck drivers on site.
"A revised delivery process across our east coast network reduces human contact, allowing almost all delivery functions to be contact-free," said Mr Lotz.
"GrainCorp's advanced contact-free technology platforms - FastWeigh for grain sampling and receival and CropConnect for digital marketplace transactions - are central to the revised plan."
Mr Lotz said it will be important for truck driver's to fill out a delivery advice prior to arrival at the site to speed up the process.
"The delivery advices are available on the website, we've got some flyers in the sample stands as well, but as part of our new process they can have a lot of it done before they arrive," he said.
Equipped to beat the rain fronts
As for the predicted rainfall, which has already seen croppers around Moree get drenched just a couple of weeks into harvest, Mr Lotz said they are equipped to go round the clock to get in as much as possible ahead of the rain fronts.
"From our point of view it's a case of let's go flat out, get it off and get it in the bins and growers want to do that too," he said.
"We've got our staffing schedules based on dual shifts so we can run 24 hours at most sites if required. But, we need that communication to know what people are doing."
Mr Lotz said it was important growers were talking to their site manager and were on the GrainCorp SMS.
"Communication is key, so we know if there is a breakdown or an outage, or if growers are starting with a different commodity, it just gives us a feel for us what's happening in the field so we're equipped for their needs as best as possible."
