Bunge has officially kicked off its harvest season after receiving its first delivery for 2025-26 on Eyre Peninsula.
The first delivery made to the company – formerly known as Viterra – was a load of lentils delivered to its Thevenard site by Ceduna farmer Jim Evans.
Bunge’s director of industrial management Gavin Cavanagh said the milestone signalled a positive start to a more favourable season than last year for most farmers across South Australia and western Victoria.
“Crop production for South Australia and Victoria is expected to be close to average, at around nine million tonnes produced in each state, which is a good result given the record dry start to the year and the smaller 2024-25 harvest,” he said.
“However we recognise that some areas, including parts of the Murray Mallee, are unfortunately expecting lower production than average. Our focus is on ensuring those farmers receive the support and service they require with segregations and opening hours.”
Bunge’s annual investment program into its South Australian and western Victorian network has been completed, which includes upgrades on Eyre Peninsula.
One of the upgrades was for an additional classification office at Wudinna to support lentil deliveries.
Structural upgrades have been made to bunkers at the Kimba, Lock, Cummins and Wudinna sites.
The company said the improvements would help ensure a sustainable and efficient network in the long term.
It has also started welcoming 1500 harvest workers to prepare for another busy season.
With more than six million tonnes of forward shipping capacity already booked, Bunge said it was seeing strong buyer demand for new season grain across its network.
“Heading into harvest with strong forward demand gives our farmer customers confidence that buyers are ready to purchase their grain when they deliver it to us,” Mr Cavanagh said.
Following the combination of Bunge and Viterra, the company continues to transition to the Bunge name and brand.
For the coming harvest, the viterra.com.au website is the place to find information about delivering to Bunge’s South Australian and western Victorian sites.
