The 2024 ginning season came to an end last week at the Australian Food and Fibre (AFF) gin south of Hay.

Above: Some of the local faces responsible for this season’s successful ginning season (from left) shift supervisor Ziggy Hey, ginning assistant Peter Gifford, grower services Yolanda Miller, gin manager Harley Hey and electrician Geoff Hazleton.

The ginning season ran for five months and processed 45,000 round modules into 199,000 finished bales, making 2024 one of the Hay gin’s biggest runs.

“Growers are happy, especially compared to last year” AFF gin manager Harley Hey said.

“Prices are down a little, but yields are well up.”

The gin employs 18 local full-time retained employees, who were supported by an additional 28 seasonal workers during ginning.

Processed modules are transported by road from Hay to port in Melbourne, before being shipped to customers in south east Asia, Vietnam, Türkiye (Turkey) and India.

The next step for the team is to set up a mini-warehousing system, for the first time.

“We will be packing containers here on-site, for the first time,” Mr Hey said.