Harvest and Markets

By Lochie Mitchell
12^th January,2026

While many are taking some much-needed time off, growers in the southern regions of Victoria and South Australia are still in the midst of an average to an above average harvest, with the late spring rains in November well and truly having an impact. Whereas those closer to the Victorian and New South Wales boarder, the November rains didn’t account for much of an increase come harvest time.

While tropical lows over the past week have led to healthy rainfall in Central and Southern Queensland, with more falls expected this week as well for parts of Northern New South Wales, as we approach the start of the Sorghum harvest. 

Grain marketing for many has been put on the backburner over the last few weeks due to the Christmas and new year period. Softer prices across most commodities is also contributing to the lack of selling. While we saw buoyed prices earlier in harvest, sustained by slow harvest pace in many ways, harvest pressure set in as quantity started to come off the paddock with some reporting crops exceeded initial expectations considering the amount of rainfall some localities received.  

In terms of markets, we haven’t seen much input that can really cause a shake up over the last few weeks. Although we did see 3 days in the green across the Canola market on the East Coast, as Matif and ICE futures pushed higher. Tuesday the U.S. energy market saw gains, off the back of the news coming out Venezuela. The Canadian prime minister Mark Carney is also bound for China this week, to meet with Xi Jinping, trade talks are expected, particularly in energy, as Canada look to bolster its economic resilience. 

Wheat markets are holding out for an input to really get momentum heading upwards again. The USDA WASDE report will be one to look at this week for any changes to northern hemisphere production estimates, as we know global supply is heavy. The escalated tension in the Black Sea is also one to watch over the coming weeks, as the Odesa oil terminal was attacked last week by Russia.

Barley remains well supported from buyers here locally and overseas, due to a lack of farmer selling offshore. The USDA’s update on corn production will play a role this week, as yield predictions are expected to marginally decrease. The strength in the Chinese corn market is also sustaining buyer interest here in Australia.

Our thoughts go out to those impacted by last weeks widespread bushfires. Wishing all to stay safe and stay informed over the coming days and weeks as warmer conditions present themselves.