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Heavy rain damages grain harvest

Posted November 26, 2008 11:12:00

Farmers in some parts of Western Australia say their chances of an improved harvest have been damaged by heavy rain.

Farmers were hoping for a bumper harvest after rainfall during the grain season, but say wheat quality has been affected by recent falls.

Derek Clauson from the WA Farmers Federation says farmers south of the Great Eastern Highway have been the worst affected.

"We haven't been able to get going in a consistent run at harvest, but hopefully we will be able to get into wheat from here on in, so north of the highway is probably better than south of the highway in terms of how the rain has impacted on quality," he said.

"The late rain is really taking away from potential in the Great Southern, and in the Esperance area, and I think we will see a significant downgrade in grain quality which is bad news for a lot of growers."

Tags: agricultural-crops, grain, wheat, wa, albany-6330, bunbury-6230, esperance-6450, geraldton-6530, perth-6000