Two headers working up to 14-hour days on Richard Hicks's property at Stockinbingal joined a mad scramble across southern NSW this week to get as much of the crop off before more heavy rain fell.
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For two days, AWB GrainFlow received a record 100,000 tonnes of wheat a day at silos across the east of Australia.
![Farmers in race against time and rain Farmers in race against time and rain](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/0d782c3f-0454-40a7-b285-388b24d6afd0.jpg/r0_0_729_475_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Tarpaulin-covered wheat bunkers have become mountains near rail sidings, while truck drivers have been frustrated by queues - up to 260 trucks at West Wyalong and 200 at Stockinbingal - waiting for hours to unload.
Each load is tested for rain-damaged wheat by a ''falling numbers'' method of dropping a weight through a doughy paste of freshly ground wheat.
If the weight takes more than 300 seconds to get through the mixture it's judged quality hard wheat, worth up to $280 a tonne.
If not, it's downgraded to feed wheat, worth some $140 a tonne or less
Mr Hicks pays $500 an hour for the two headers. The biggest, with a 12m comb which eats into a crop like a hungry cod, is worth about $750,000.
Late into the night lights blaze from the machines which unload grain into two chaser-bins which each hold 18 tonnes. Receivals stations accepting the laden trucks are lit up like football grounds.
''We're bogged at the moment in wheat, '' Mr Hicks said.
Right on harvest time 152mm of rain delayed the stripping, yet remarkably, when it was dry enough to harvest the wheat was not downgraded.
''I am pleasantly surprised, the prices of the higher grades of wheat have seemingly held their own at this stage. That's good news too,'' Mr Hicks said.
Further east near Harden, Peter O'Connor had four headers working on crops that had been downgraded in sections.
Some of his wheat is still green and will withstand more rain.
His canola crops have been excellent.
Agfarm southern NSW regional manager Ben Shannon said most of the wheat in southern NSW would be 80 per cent harvested by the weekend, avoiding the rain, which would bring everything to a halt.
He said downgrading was isolated to about 25 per cent of the crop. Last year nearly 90 per cent was downgraded.
Yields varied but were generally above average.
Farmers had resisted forward selling their crops.
''Probably about 80 per cent less forward selling this year versus last year and that's mainly due to opportunities to forward sell and also because it was a little bit dry through winter,'' Mr Shannon said.
''That made growers nervous, plus the mice plague issues. That made growers nervous as well.''