United Oilseeds pays out record £520,000 to farmer-members

Grower-owned co-operative United Oilseeds is due to pay its members £520,000 as a redistribution of profits for the 2021-22 financial year.

The group has 4,500 farmer-members and has paid more than £4m in profit redistribution payments in the past 10 years.

The profit share distribution is determined based on the individual turnover each trading member puts through the co-op.

See also: UK OSR planted area increases by 7% but imports still needed

The record payment this year was made possible by United Oilseeds achieving a pre-tax profit of £1.78m in the year ending 30 June 2022, an increase of £275,000 on the previous year.

Managing director Chris Baldwin said the payment would help farmers to improve their bottom line and was a significant benefit of co-operative membership.

Oil bonus

Growers supplying the co-op will also receive an average quality bonus of £65.37/t based on combined admix, oil and moisture content.

Those who committed to United Oilseeds’ 2022 harvest pool in England will receive a total price of £645.39/t, made up of the base price of £580.02/t and the quality bonus.

This is mainly due to an increase in the percentage of oil content from 43.53% in 2021 to 45.97% in 2022.

The Federation of Oils, Seeds and Fats Associations’ (Fosfa) 26a contract terms dictate that a bonus of 1.5% of the base price is paid for oil content above 40%, making the oil bonus worth £51.97/t in 2022, compared with £31.16/t in 2021.

The 2022 harvest pool had an average moisture content of 7.58% and an admix content of 1.11%, which equated to bonuses of £8.24/t and £5.16/t, respectively, based on Fosfa terms.

Oilseed rape traded through the co-op is independently analysed by a third party to ensure a fair calculation of quality bonuses is made.

Mr Baldwin said: “Farmers are under a great deal of financial pressure from rising input costs and squeezed margins. It therefore makes sense for OSR growers to identify all the ways in which they can improve the return they get on their rapeseed crops.

“Quality bonuses are often overlooked, but they can make a huge difference to the price they receive for their crop,” he said.