When it comes to harvesting grains, wheat accounts for most of Australia’s grain production. Western Australia, Victoria, and Queensland are some of the states that significantly focus on growing wheat.
Once Australian wheat is harvested, it will be exported and sold off locally and overseas – specifically to the Asian and Middle East markets, including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Sudan, and Malaysia. Western Australia is the most significant exporting state, but it’s also used for domestic consumption.
How is Wheat Grown?
Wheat is grown from seeds. After ploughing, the paddocks break up the soil, and farmers use a tractor to pull a machine called a drill that plants the seeds into the long ditches. Here, most farmers add fertilisers as a source of food for the plants to make the wheat grows stronger. As the plant grows, a head of seeds forms at the top of the plant; it will harden and ripen over time.
What Happens When Wheat is Harvested?
When the crop is no longer visibly green – in other words, dried to a golden yellow colour, the crop is ready to go. A harvesting machine called the “header” will put the wheat into the truck, and ripened wheat will be stored in silos until sold.
If it rains the day before, harvesting should be postponed until the crop is thoroughly dried. Farmers must wait to harvest the wheat until the sun is high enough to dry the dew that has settled on the plants overnight.
This is because once the stalks get moist, this can make them very tough to harvest; it’s harder to break when wet. The harvesting process will be quicker if the weather is dry and hot after the rain.
Knowing the best way to approach each planting and harvest season is essential to ensure maximum efficiency, yield, and profitability. Keeping this in mind, here are three practical tips to maximise your wheat harvest:
Pay Attention to the Test Weight
This is important to ensure your harvest is high quality. Test weight refers to the moisture content of your wheat kernel and it’s recommended to always harvest between 20% and 14%.
It’s also vital to consider harvesting wheat at 18% to 20% as it allows earlier double-crop planting, helps to maintain high-quality wheat, and assists in achieving maximum wheat.
Check the Combined Settings
It is crucial to recheck the settings on the combines. For instance, airflow across the sieves is crucial when you want a good result. Additionally, when grain loss occurs – change only one setting at a time and then check to see what effect that change made.
Optimal Drying Temperature and Grain Moisture
It’s recommended for commercial mill quality, dry wheat to be at temperatures of 60 ºC or less, for seed production, dry wheat at 43 ºC or less and long-term storage, dry wheat to 12.5% moisture.
Once the wheat is sold, Australian wheat will be used in a wide range of products worldwide. Most of the time, it is used for food production, including Asian noodles (udon, ramen, and instant noodles), Asian steamed products, and Indian style bread, desserts including sweet cakes, pastries, and confectionary as well as pasta and couscous.
If you would like to learn more about your wheat harvest and what to do when it comes to harvesting season, contact our friendly team today.