Western Australia's grains industry is on track to smash past production records by several million tonnes this season.
The state's main grain handler, the Cooperative Bulk Handling Group (CBH), surpassed the 21.3 million tonne receival record set last season on Thursday afternoon.
CBH chief executive Ben Macnamara said it was a "remarkable effort" by growers to go back-to-back with another record crop.
"I think there's probably a couple million more tonnes out there," he said.
"There's a bit more grain coming through in the southern parts of the state."
Receival records have already been achieved across the Geraldton, Kwinana and Esperance Port Zones.
An 'outstanding' season
Industry modelling predicts the state's total production will exceed 25 million tonnes by the end of the harvest, although the final total could exceed those estimates.
It comes after farmers enjoyed near-ideal growing conditions across the majority of the grain growing region, leading to above average yields.
WAFarmers president John Hassell said the season had been "outstanding".
"Overall it's been an amazing season that's stretched all the way from the end of March through to the end of October when there was green grass, which is unheard of," he said.
"It'll help people pay down a lot of debt, it'll help cover the hugely increased cost of fertiliser, fuel and a lot of our inputs.
"It'll set people up for being able to set up next year's crop."
A long, slow grind
High yielding crops and an extended winter have left farmers in southern parts harvesting much longer than usual.
Natalie Bowman who farms at Grass Patch, about 750 kilometres south-east of Perth, described the current harvest as one of the 'most frustrating' she's experienced.
"We just had so much rain and there wouldn't have been many days, apart from towards the end, where we actually started work before lunch," she said.
"It's the first time in quite a few years that we haven't finished before Christmas … it did come as a bit of a shock.
"Our son's home on the farm and he's never experienced a harvest that's run over Christmas … but we managed to get it in before the new year thanks to hard work and some long hours."
Plenty more to come
Among those working into the new year was Sam Lehmann, who farms at Cranbrook, about 330 kilometres south-east of Perth in the Great Southern.
"We'll finish harvest when we do, but it's just nice to have a decent season so I don't mind at all finishing a bit later if it means we've had good years and quality," he said.
"I think there's still plenty more to come off in the area."
The Grains Industry Association of WA will release its latest crop estimate report next week.
