Australia’s largest Wheat Grower Ron Greentree is looking to store 100,000 tonnes of this years harvest on farm while he waits for better prices.
Ron Greentree, who expects to harvest a 150,000-tonne wheat crop this season, said in an interview the extra capacity was needed as weak prices meant he was in no hurry to sell his crop.
He said buyers were struggling to arrange credit because of the global financial crisis while the world was awash with wheat following bumper northern hemisphere crops.
“As far as Australia’s harvest is concerned, this financial crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time because it is really difficult for the buyers to get credit on the right terms,” Mr Greentree said.
“We’re adding storage because of deregulation,” he said
Greentree’s operation is large enough that he can choose not to deal with Grain traders. Now not only does he grow the wheat but now he becomes an internation grain marketer.
Mr Greentree has already made several trips to Japan this year, marketing his wheat to flour-millers needing high protein wheat for the manufacture of ramen noodles. He also expects sales to Vietnam and Thailand.
While sales deals have been struck, pricing and a delivery timetable have not been set, requiring Mr Greentree to boost on-farm storage to about 100,000 tonnes.
Takes grain growers into a whole new area of expertise, foreign trade. If you’re a grain grower and have kids at school it would be a good idea if they studied marketing and economics as well as Ag Science.
But then again if they are smart enough to do a triple degree maybe they should just become an investment banker or a commodities trader, getting paid millions of dollars a year in salary and bonuses.
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Tags: Ron Greentree, Wheat
