A grain shed that has stood empty for the past six years in Cumnock has been snapped up by a canola presser to deal with a huge influx of seed.
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MSM Milling leased the GrainCorp grain shed to receive and store locally grown, Non-GM canola seeds, after the harvest of 2020 exceeded growers' expectations, the company's commodities manager James Dellow said.
"We're hoping that over the next 10 days we'll be able to put a couple of thousand tonnes into the shed here just to provide extra storage. We're seeing GrainCorp and other bulk handlers fill up west of here, so with harvest kicking into gear around here we need to find extra storage to buy time until we can bring the seed back into the plant in January," Mr Dellow said.
"The oil content of canola has been fantastic over the last couple of weeks. We're seeing loads up to 47 per cent oil content, and even slightly over, which is a great result."
Grain grower David Weston said 2020 had been "the best year (he'd) ever seen for grain and livestock".
"The last three years were shockers. 2016 was a good one but this is the best one I've ever seen. The crops look like they're three tonne/hectare crops - which is the best we've ever seen," Mr Weston said.
NSW Farmers executive councillor Bruce Reynolds agreed the season had been good for canola, wheat, barley, cattle and prime-lambs but there was still "a lot of recovering to do" after three very bad years of drought.
"Yes, there is a big harvest out there (but) there's not a lot of stock in paddocks. There's a lot of feed there, there's a lot of hay baling going on because producers have a surplus of feed this year," Mr Reynolds said.
"There's a lot of catching up to do. (After) drought feeding livestock for the last three years, a lot of them (producers) had to borrow a lot of money to get to here. The cash drought is starting to be over but it'll still probably take two years for some producers to get back on their feet fully."
"It's been a fantastic year for this area," Mr Reynolds added, "I just don't know if I would call it the 'best ever'".
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