Many growers within the Esperance region have started harvest earlier than usual, with some two to three weeks into their programs.
Senior agronomist from Agronomy Focus, Quentin Knight said some farmers around Grass Patch and Beaumont had already finished harvesting barley and were now onto canola.
"There's a fair bit of grain coming in at the minute," Mr Knight said.
"If it's not an interrupted harvest, some guys could be finished by early December."
To the north and west, hot days and dry soils have turned crops quicker than last season.
"It has been a bit warmer than normal, but I think the biggest effect of that is the soils were quite dry, the heat and dry soils made crops turn off a bit quicker, especially wheat," he said.
"Late seeded barley along the coast could do with some rain."
From October 9-15, Esperance recorded temperatures below 22 degrees Celcius, however on October 18, the town recorded its hottest day, 36.2°C.
For the same week last year, the temperatures sat between 17-22oC, with the hottest day reaching 26.8°C.
As a whole, crops that were seeded earlier in the season are now well into being harvested, and Mr Knight described these as having finished well.
"Farmers have probably harvested the best yielding crops early, as we progress into harvest I suspect that yields will drop away," he said.
"For early seeded barley and canola, they're probably good average yields."
Mr Knight said some farmers in the region saw benefits from soil amelioration, through lime application and deep ripping this season, as well as incorporating surface drainage.
"It worked quite well, because it did get a bit wet on the coast here in June," he said.
"At this stage it all seems to be running pretty smoothly."
It's a similar story at Narrogin where hot and dry weather over the past fortnight has turned crops faster than expected.
There were five days this month there the temperate exceeded 30°C and another five days of over 25°C."
It's all come at a bit of a rush, the past couple of weeks with the heat," said Nutrien agronomist and branch manager Brad Westphal.
"There's almost no colour left in anything now."
At Narrogin, harvest is yet to start, with many growers finishing up hay cutting.
"They've had perfect weather for hay," Mr Westphal said.
He is expecting local farmers to start harvesting early-seeded oats and swathed and desiccated canola from this week onwards.
Mr Westphal is also expecting they will start wheat in mid to late November - about two weeks earlier than last year.
"There'll still be some green, sappy grain for a little while," he said.
Mr Westphal said he was feeling confident about the yields from around the region.
"Through this area I think they'll be above average, but definitely back from last year," he said.
"Overall I think it will be close to what people have budgeted.
"The one thing they don't know is, with the dry finish and the sudden cut off, is what that has done to grain quality - we'll find that out soon."
Early sowing put many Narrogin farmers in a good position for the season, and investing in soil nutrition also reaped benefits.
"Early sowing always works, that's shown again this year," Mr Westphal said.
"People who have been game enough to push nutrition a bit more, and the people who have kept their nutrition up have done really well.
"I think farmers are keen to see what will happen, and what the year has done.
"I think in general everyone has made the most of it for the year," he said.
Elders, Albany agronomist James Bee said the sharp change in weather had affected crops earlier than last year, but it was too early into harvest to comment on what will happen in terms of yields and quality.
"The past two weeks have been really stark," Mr Bee said.
"To get over 30 degree days in the Albany townsite is very unusual in September and October, normally it gets hotter later on."
"We went from being wet to hot and dry very quickly, which doesn't allow the crops to chase that moisture very easily."
Mr Bee said the change in conditions left his clients feeling pessimistic.
Only a couple of farmers near Borden have started harvesting canola, with the northern end of the Albany port zone expected to kick off soon.
Barley is also finishing off quickly and will be harvested soon.
"The yields are okay but nothing special," Mr Bee said.
"It's still very early days yet, the yields will definitely be back on average, but by how much that will be is going to be hard to say until we get further into harvest."
Mr Bee said there were some late-sown crops on waterlogged paddocks which were still quite a while off.
"It's unusual to start harvesting in October on the south coast," he said.
"We'll just have to see if the hot finish is impacting quality."
Mr Bee said he was expecting the sudden finish to see an increase in screenings.
Last year, the cold, wet, soft finish delayed harvest meant farmers didn't start harvesting until December, finishing up at the end of January.
"(Last year) from the start of October to mid December we had 250 millimetres of rain," Mr Bee said
The silver lining for growers is that grain prices are "relatively good".
"For my pasture clients the price of hay is rapidly going through the roof," Mr Bee said.
"The oat price has gone up, so that's going to mean people that would have cut hay might have kept it for grain.
