HARVEST is in full swing across southern NSW with grain trucks, headers and chaser bins all working around the clock.
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Farmers in this region have been keeping an eye on the forecast with some rain predicted for Monday, which might halt harvest temporarily.
With the possibility of wet weather the weekend is set to be a busy one.
A Wallacetown Rob Gollasch of "Araglen" was flat out on Friday afternoon harvesting a crop of barley.
Early indications were for some good yields of around six tonnes a hectare and the quality was holding up well too.
To the south at Corowa on the NSW, Victorian border Derek Schoen of "Killeneen" said there were some phenomenal yields being seen in barley crops.
Some crops were averaging around eight tonnes a hectare due to handy rain during the growing season.
And in patches there were barley yields of as much as 13 tonnes a hectare.
Mr Schoen said inputs such as urea, plus the in-crop rain had certainly helped to produce a good 2020 crop.
Although he was in the same position as everyone else in the Riverina. It was busy.
It was a race against the clock and a logistical exercise to beat breakdowns in a bid to harvest as much crop as possible before rain arrived.
"We are certainly hoping there is not too much rain between now and Christmas," he said.
Once the barley was finished he was hoping to move onto canola which would be direct headed and there was wheat and lupins to harvest as well.
"This harvest is better than 2016, and we are eager to get into the canola," he said.
Mr Schoen explained that canola was one of those crops, which was difficult to judge on yield and quality until the header actually got into the paddock.
In the north of the region, at Kikiora, Mark Hoskinson, "Fernleigh", spoke to The Rural from the seat of the header.
"There are some good crops around, but there are also some ordinary ones too," Mr Hoskinson said.
He said the hail damage, which completely wiped out some crops in southern NSW, was still firmly in people's minds and was evident during harvest.
In this area, harvest is further advanced than the southern region of the Riverina and much of the barley had already come off.
"We have been harvesting oats, and we are nearly finished," Mr Hoskinson said.
He said there were certainly a lot of trucks on the road and he commended the people working at receival depots for the excellent capabilities in handling the logistics associated with a big harvest.
In preparation for the harvest financing for harvesters, headers and associated equipment was reported as being up by 108 per cent.
This was based on figures released by Commonwealth Bank's Executive General Manager Regional and Agribusiness, Grant Cairns.
"For many of Australia's farmers, this year has been a rebound from drought with favourable growing conditions, a successful winter crop in many regions and strong optimism about yields and quality of harvest," Mr Cairns said.
"Over the past few months we've seen financing in the sector increase dramatically - largely driven by farmers purchasing agricultural machinery for this year's crop season.
"We've seen asset finance for ag machinery, particularly tractors and harvesters, increase significantly. Across the country, new asset financing for tractors is up 119 per cent - the highest volumes with seen in the past three years, and financing for harvesters is up 108 per cent."
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