Low bushel weight wheat attracts interest

Farmers with low bushel weight wheat still have some marketing options, with careful blending opening up export and domestic opportunities.

Nidera is managing to blend low specific weight wheat with better quality samples to produce 72kg/hl cargoes for export from Ipswich grain terminal. “We are paying farmers a premium for high specific weight wheat, which is enabling us to take in lower quality and blend it on to the boat,” said trading director Stuart Shiells.

“We estimate around 75% of the wheat crop we’ve traded so far is below 72kg/hl and we have taken as low as 55kg/hl – although that requires a lot of good quality wheat to reach the 72kg/hl required.”

With export markets trading at a discount to domestic wheat, many shippers had simply bought themselves out of existing contracts, said Mr Shiells. “Some merchants still haven’t shifted farmers’ wheat that was sold for harvest movement because it’s not up to spec. Financially, the best decision would be for us to cash in our contracts, but we want to give farmers an outlet for their grain and continue supplying our customers.”

Although most domestic consumers were only accepting down to 65kg/hl, Ensus was taking down to 60kg/hl for biofuel production, said Gary Bright, managing director at Tynegrain. “We are taking all of our members’ grain, regardless of bushel weight, at a maximum claim of £1/kg. It’s been a very difficult harvest so we are using our reserves to subsidise any losses we take on that – and we’re giving members a four-month holiday on drying and haulage payments.”