New tech speeds up receivals for WA’s bumper 21.3 million tonne harvest

Well done to everyone involved in achieving a whopping 21.3 million tonnes harvest for Western Australia.

In a move to cut waiting time at receival points, License Plate Recognition (LPR) was trialled by CBH in the Esperance Port zone this harvest.

LPR captures and identifies computerreadable images of license plates on trucks at unmanned weighbridges.

Drivers were able to pull their truck onto an unmanned weighbridge, have their number plate and weight registered through the CDF App, which they then accepted and drove on - all within a matter of seconds.

Mick Daw CBH Acting Chief Operations Officer said the technology was trialled this harvest in an attempt to improve the efficiency at sites with unmanned weighbridges and sample-first sites.

He told Farm Weekly, "CBH has previously tested other technology at our unmanned weighbridges, however we have been looking for more accurate technology to improve the number plate recognition and speed up the weighing process. "Between the start of October and the end of December, 19,413 weighing events were successfully processed over the trial weighbridges helping to improve site cycle times. "This is a great example of how we are implementing technology solutions to improve efficiency at harvest and get growers back to their paddocks faster,” said Mr Daw.

A few things were learnt during the trial including the need for drivers to dim their head lights on the weighbridge at night time. Overall the trial was deemed a success and CBH will look at other ways to utilise the technology in the future.

Accurate and time saving technology like this could not have come at a better time WA growers delivering 50 per cent more than the five-year harvest average.

Over 90 records were smashed across the network, all culminating in the total tonnes growers delivered reaching 21.3 million tonnes. This surpasses the previous record in 2016/17 of 16.65 million tonnes, and the five-year average of 14.2 million tonnes.

Of the 130 sites that received grain, 40 set new highs for tonnes delivered in one day and 54 exceeded their previous record for total tonnes delivered to the site in one harvest.

CBH opened 130 sites this year, including the two new sites of Meenaar and North Kojonup. They also added a record 2.4 million tonnes of emergency storage across 33 of these sites.

At the peak of harvest, a new record was set with CBH receiving almost 585,000 tonnes in one day. Altogether, there were 11 days where more than 500,000 tonnes were delivered on each day. A feat that has only been achieved ‘five’ days in CBH’s 88year history. P olice Minister Paul Papalia has announced 12 additional police officers have been sent to the Kimberley to help tackle juvenile crime.

The extra officers arrived in Broome and were then deployed throughout the Kimberley by the District Superintendent according to operational needs.

The additional support has been made available from the State Government's $3.5 million Operation Heat Shield.

It will boost current police efforts to target property and vehicle related crime by identifying, locating and arresting active offenders, as well as providing a visible police presence at times when volume crime is occurring.

The McGowan Government is recruiting 950 additional police officers over four years - the biggest single injection in police

Boost to Kimberley police resources to tackle youth crime

The WA Transport industry will be grateful if part of this initiative can be directed towards fixing the huge problem of objects being thrown at trucks

numbers in the State's history.

Police Minister Paul Papalia said, "I want to commend police officers in the Kimberley for their dedication to tackling crime and protecting the community in what has been a challenging environment of late. "These extra officers will support local police efforts in addressing youth crime issues. "I want to thank the local member who is a strong advocate for her local community and has been working with the local superintendent on these matters. "We must work together as a community to reduce youth offending and divert young people away from a life of crime in the first instance. "The McGowan Government remains strongly focused on supporting programs like PCYC and other initiatives which engage young people in a positive way."

It goes without saying, the WA Transport industry will be grateful if part of this initiative can be directed towards fixing the huge problem of objects being thrown at trucks whilst they are passing through some Kimberley towns.