THEY'RE off - harvest is now underway in the Geraldton zone as growers have started swathing canola.
Arrino farmer Scott Morgan started swathing in his 820 hectare, 43Y23 canola crop last week, which he said was looking "exceptional".
Mr Morgan farms with father Adrian and brother-in-law Gerard Rowe across Arrino, West Arrino and Mullewa.
"In the canola crop, we're expecting a high one tonne/hectare and in some places we'll go over 2t/ha," he said.
Mr Morgan said the canola crop was "really big" this year, which meant swathing was preferred over direct heading.
He plans to start harvesting his wheat crop in late October, depending on weather.
The Geraldton zone has been estimated to deliver between 2.8 and 3mt, with Albany 3.2mt, Esperance 2.5mt and Kwinana 6.5-8mt.
Last year the CBH network received 11.34mt by the end of harvest, with 2.25mt delivered in the Geraldton zone, 1.93mt in the Esperance zone, 5.17 in the Kwinana zone and 1.98 in the Albany zone.
This harvest the co-operative is predicting 15-17mt to flow into the network, slightly down on previous estimates due to extensive frost damage in the eastern and southern Wheatbelt and waterlogging in the Albany zone.
Farm Weekly understands the co-operative will also be offering competitive site-based pricing this year.
While harvest is on the radar, cooler and wetter than average weather has slowed cereal crop growth, and for most of the State this is likely to continue.
For the next three months the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting October to December rainfall could be wetter than average for much of the country, potentially slowing down harvest.
Daytime temperatures are also likely to be cooler than average for most of the country, however in western WA, daytime temperatures are likely to be warmer.
Overnight temperatures are expected to follow a similar pattern.
Frost continues to be a concern as several frost events from late August through to the end of September have had a significant impact on yield potential.
Department of Agriculture and Food WA (DAFWA) weather stations recorded temperatures from September 23 to 25 dropping to minus 3.7 degrees at Bonnie Rock, minus 3.1 degrees at Lake King, minus 3.2 degrees at Hyden and minus 3.4 degrees at Westonia.
After speaking to growers across the Wheatbelt, Farm Weekly understands there is anywhere between 10 to 90pc losses from frost in the south eastern region.
Hyden grower Trevor Hinck said it was a "mixed bag" in terms of frost damage at his place.
He said in the elevated areas there had been hardly any impact while in lower lying paddocks there was up to 80pc damage.
Mr Hinck said the frost activity had been "fairly unprecedented", with frosts generally following each rain event over the past few weeks.
His field pea crop had been heavily impacted, but he remained hopeful his lupin, canola and wheat crops had some potential to recover.
"The wheat is still flowering through the frost so we'll see how that goes.
"Lupins are probably half their potential but there are still some pods that are viable," he said.
