Grain growers hammered by storm

Excess rain and hailstorms throughout WA at the weekend have caused widespread damage to crops.

Thousands of hectares of crops have been wiped out by a freak hailstorm across the central wheatbelt over the weekend.

Farms in the Shires of Dowerin, Wyalkatchem, Tammin, and Kellerberrin bore the brunt of the severe weather, with some farmers saying 100 per cent of some paddocks have been destroyed.

South West WA hit by flash hail storm

The weekend storm also saw up to 120mm falling at Kukerin, 63mm at Kulin, 60mm at Corrigin and 55mm at Quairading, which could also means farmers face quality issues at harvest.

WA farmers looking at floods on their property. Source: Twitter

Wyalkatchem farmer Ewan Dickson says he lost his remaining 300ha canola crop in about 10 minutes late on Saturday afternoon due to hail.

“I was harvesting on Saturday afternoon and I knocked off about 4.30 and by 5 o’clock the entire crop was all gone,” he said.

Mr Dickson said he’d never before experienced a complete wipe out due to hail.

“We’d had a 30 per cent loss a couple of years ago, but we were still able to harvest that and get a bit off.

“Its going to be interesting how it all ends up, we’ve got to work out what to do with the standing residue now.”

Mr Dickson said his crop had been yielding 1.4 t/ha and he would now be working on insurance paperwork instead of sitting in the header.

Around the Esperance area farmers avoided hail but received downpours of between 50mm and 150mm. Among the worst hit areas were east of Esperance and west toward Munglinup.

While farmers normally welcome rain during the cropping season, unseasonal rain during harvest on ripe crops causes the grain to darken in colour which can lead to downgrading at delivery.

In extreme cases the excess moisture can cause the heads of ripened grain to germinate and sprout, meaning it is downgraded to the much less valuable stock feed.

At this stage of the year most of WA’s barley crop is ripe so will feel the major damage. The current difference in the value of premium malt grade barley and feed barley is around $40 per tonne.

Farm and General agronomist Andrew Heinrich estimates the rain could lead to the downgrades of thousands of tonnes of grain around the Esperance area.

“Despite a very dry growing season the crops were looking like they were in reasonable shape but now farmers risk losing a lot,” he said.

“This has been very devastating for the farmers.”

As well as the likely downgrades, the abundant late rate has led to significant erosion. With some crops now laying flat under the weight of the rain and strength of the wind, harvest machinery will need to be modified and the use of crop lifters will be required.

Mr Heinrich said the true extent of the damage won’t really be known for a few days when the full extent of staining and germination can be assessed.

However more rain is forecast on Thursday which could add further damage.

Whilst hail storms can be covered by insurance, damage from unseasonal rain cannot.

Farm consultant David Falconer said wheat, canola, barley and lupin crops had been flattened.

The hard-hit farms included those owned by Quentin Davies near Yorkrakine where harvest had just started.

Every paddock on their farm suffered some damaged and the family said there were "no lone rangers", with even paint stripped from a nearby farm house.

In some cases, farmers will be covered by insurance against hail damage.