Lawson Grains won the wheat competition with a crop expected to yield 2.8 tonnes to the hectare on the Wirrinya property.

In second was a Bedgerabong crop, by Drady Farming, expected to yield 2.1 tonnes to the hectare.

And in third was Matt Dent's crop, expected to yield 1.7 tonnes.

Lawson Grains also claimed honours in the barley competition, with a crop expected to yield 3.9 tonnes to the hectare.

Steve Nicholson wasn't too far behind with a paddock of barley expected to yield 3.7 tonnes.

Bogabigal Partnership produced the best canola crop, expected to yield 1.1 tonnes. Lawson grains placed second with a crop anticipated to yield 1 tonne.

Judge Matt Gould said anything that resulted in moisture availability was key this year.

He, along with Campbell Wilson, was tasked with judging this year's crop competition.

"It was definitely surprising," he said of the quality of the crops they visited.

"Every year, no matter the rainfall, we get some good crops.

"It's very surprising the yields farmers are achieving."

Some crops to the south of Forbes, in the Wirrinya district, received 70mm of rain early in the season that gave them a better start than many others.

The most successful crops were in paddocks that lay fallow, had failed crop or legumes last year - anything that left some moisture for this year's crops to tap into.

"Due to the extremely low rainfall, anything that made extra moisture available has been the reason for extra yield," Mr Gould said.

"The other thing that helped was the early-sown crops, they had an extra two to four weeks of root growth."