As our region's winter croppers have watched an incredible turn-around on recent years of drought, we've dared to hope this might be the bumper harvest so desperately needed.
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Now the headers are racing the weather at every opportunity to get those crops in - and local GrainCorp sites say they might just see record intakes.
GrainCorp area manager Tony Gallagher says there's been a really good start to harvest, despite the recent high temperatures and high winds halting operations at the Parkes, Red Bend and Wirrinya sites.
"At our Red Bend site, we're getting up to 11,000 tonnes of grain each day and are well on our way to filling the site," Mr Gallagher said on Thursday.
"Our last record number of tonnages for the site was during the 2016/17 harvest season, where we finished up with 147,000 tonnes.
"However, with 133,000 tonnes already in the bunkers, we're expecting to beat that record."
Canola, in particular, is exceeding expectations.
Red Bend has two bunkers and two silo bins full, yields doubling what had been predicted, Mr Gallagher said.
"Having already taken 32,000 tonnes, for now, we've had to stop receiving it," he said.
"Meanwhile, at Wirrinya, we are not taking any Canola receivals, but we have had plenty of deliveries of wheat and barley coming through the gates.
"While the site is on track to fill, and then close, we have overflow options at both our Red Bend and Parkes sites."
GrainCorp's Parkes site is loading two export trains a week and creating additional bunker storage to manage the large volume of grain coming in from farms, Mr Gallagher said.
"With the silo weighbridges at Red Bend able to accommodate road trains, it has meant we're receiving grain at that site from areas north of Trundle and west of Condobolin," he said.
"This is also helping us to accommodate growers as we're getting as much grain into the system as possible."
The season has not been without its challenges for our growers, particularly with late rains, recent storms and periods of high fire danger, but some outstanding crops have been highlighted in the Forbes P A and H crop competitions.
Those stories in next week's Advocate.
