At least $140 for barley in first pool

Press, 11 August 1980, Page 2

At least $140 for barley in first pool

The South Island export barley pool, which has been established by farmers, announced at the week-end that the guaranteed price for barley in its No. 1 pool would, be at least $l4O a tonne. The chairman of the pool, Mr G. B. Robertson, said that an announcement of the final price for the No. 1 pool would be made in the next week at the time that contracts would be available. It was still possible that the price would exceed $l4O a tonne. This pool is for barley that growers would like to see sold forward on the overseas market.

About a month ago, the Canterbury (N.Z.) Malting Company, Ltd, announced that it would pay $135 a tonne for barley grown under contract for it Jn the coming season and subsequently a consortium of merchants said that it would offer $l3O a tonne for barley grown for it and delivered to either Timaru or Bluff for export. Since then, both these buyers have reported that they were reviewing their offers and the Malting Company has said that it would raise its price. Barley in the No. 2 pool would not be sold until nearer the time of delivery, said Mr Robertson, and in this case a fixed price would not be offered to growers; as it'was the belief of pool directors that market indications and currency changes would result in a final price showing a satisfactory premium over the No. 1 pool. In signing a pool contract, he said, growers would have the opportunity of splitting their crops between the two pools. Fanners would be approached later this week to ascertain their requirements for pool contracts, which would be for feed barley, with up to 20 per cent of screenings, delivered to Lyttelton, Timaru, and Bluff. “The response so far from ■ growers to the pools’ proposals has been very enthusiastic,” said Mr Robertson. “Farmers’ support to date in not signing contracts • at unrealistically low prices has already led to the tra-

ditional buyers of barley reconsidering their prices. This would suggest that it is in farmers’ best interests to continue to give the South Island export barley pool strong support in order that a good throughput can be achieved this year as a basis for operating in future seasons.”

The chairman of the agriculture section of North Canterbury Federated Farmers (Mr F. A. Bull) said he was sure that barley growers would be pleased with the co-operative’s announcement of the minimum price for its No. 1 pool.

“Growers’ negotiators genuinely sought to no availthe co-operation of merchants to achieve a price based on present growing costs and were finally forced to form the new co-oper-ative to achieve the price now announced,” he said. “I believe that this price is also a more realistic assessment of the export market and justifies the , agriculture section’s advice to growers to wait and consider the alternatives and also the caution shown by growers themselves in not taking up the contracts first offered by the traditional purchaser of barley. “I trust that barley growers will now support the new growers’ co-oper-ative thereby expressing their confidence in it and demonstrating solid support for its directors, who have put a great deal of personal time and effort into getting this new venture off the ground . . Mr Bull said. Today and tomorrow the chairman of the Dominion agriculture section of Federated Farmers (Mr N. Q. Wright) will be in Southland and Otago meeting members of the agriculture sections in the two provinces and also attending a growers’ meeting at Balclutha. Mr Robertson and another director of the pool, Mr A. Pye, will attend some of these meetings. Mr Wright said that one of the main purposes would be to talk about the co-oper- . ative and to give farmers in , those areas the same oppor- : tunity to participate in barley export as Canterbury . farmers.