Buy NZ grain farmers urge
Arable farmers are urging dairy farmers to ease up on feeding their cattle imported palm kernel expeller (PKE) in favour of New Zealand-grown grains.
But with PKE cheaper at $264 per tonne versus wheat ($375) and barley ($385), the pendulum swings in favour of PKE.
Add transport costs of $2000-$4000 for a truckload from the South Island, where most grain is grown, and it swings further. The call comes amid promising signs for the industry after two indifferent seasons.
‘‘We’re keen farmers see grain as an option; PKE has environmental and biosecurity issues, and Fonterra has problems with it for milk composition.
‘‘We’ve got domestic grain available; it’s quality feed and has none of those issues,’’ Federated Farmers Grains vice-chairman Brian Leadley said.
Feds dairy group chairman Chris Lewis said farmers would ‘‘love’’ to feed grain, and many South Island farmers did, but freight costs made it prohibitive for North Islanders.
However, he and other farmers added Canterbury grain to their PKE meal silo blends.
The latest industry survey shows the total area sown in cereals is estimated to be up 19 per cent, or 20,500 hectares, on last season, mainly due to the area sown in feed barley, which is returning to historical levels.
The total hectares producing all six cereal crops – feed barley, malting barley, milling wheat, feed wheat, milling oats and feed oats – should be 128,700ha.
By the first week of October, 81 per cent of sowings had been completed. Wet weather delayed sowing in many regions, with later crops sown in less-than-ideal conditions.
The percentage of forward-sold hectares is estimated to be 90 per cent for malting barley, 78 per cent for milling oats and 43 per cent for milling wheat. For the feed crops, the forward-sold figures were 46 per cent of feed wheat, 43 per cent of feed barley and 26 per cent of feed oats.
‘‘There has been reluctance among growers towards the barley market. But this present wet spring has actually prompted many to plant barley ...’’ Leadley said.
While there was a lift in demand and price, Leadley said that might not be the case after this summer’s harvest.
‘‘I think the end users are still cautious and maybe even cash tight. So if they are buying, it’s more on requirement than opportunity; I doubt most have or are thinking of filling up their silos.
‘‘The long-term forecast is a La Nina cycle. This may mean drought-type conditions for some, so I would encourage farmers to contact local suppliers.‘‘
Increased biosecurity incursions was a logical reason for reducing imports.
‘‘The reality is one contaminated import can have long-term implications, especially with costs and managing it. You can reduce this risk by buying locally.’’ Leadley said.