“It’s great to see that willing growers are finding willing buyers,” Federated Farmers arable grains vice-chair Brian Leadley said.
In the October Arable Industry Marketing Initiative (AIMI) report released this week, cereal grain production of wheat, barley and oats for the season totaled almost 900,000 tonnes, and maize grain 180,000t, for a total of just more than one million tonnes.
Unsold stocks of grain across all six crops have reduced by 50% between July 1 and October 10.
This follows good demand for feed barley over recent months.
When compared to the same time last year, unsold stocks across all six crops are pretty much unchanged, with an increase in the unsold stocks of milling and feed wheat to 57,600t, up by 18,600t, and offset by a decrease in unsold stocks of malting and feed barley of 38,700t, down by 18,900t.
There is 25% less sold feed barley stored on-farm compared to the same time last year, which indicates that more grain has made its way to buyers.
Sold milling oats still stored on-farm is 65% lower, showing that milling oats has made it to the mills earlier than last year.
The intentions of milling oats show area increasing by 86% this season, with milling oats the only cereal to increase the number of hectares contracted.
Feed oats have a similar story to milling oats with 58% less sold feed oats sitting on-farm.
“Obviously, we have plenty of end users recognising the benefits of quality NZ-grown grains, whether that’s for products for human consumption or for stock feed,” Leadley said.
The AIMI survey report shows the total area sown, or intended to be sown this season, in cereal crops is estimated to be 95,500 hectares, down 3% on last year.
At the time of the survey in mid-October, 85% of this total area had been planted, while 15% was still to go in the ground.
Spring sowings in Southland have been delayed by wet conditions, but growers in other regions reported concern over low moisture levels.
Feed barley was the worst impacted crop with 10,000ha waiting to be sown.
Milling oats and malting barley were also impacted in Southland.
Leadley says this underlines the case that re-sowing paddocks used for winter grazing by a blanket national deadline, despite regional climate variations, is a flawed approach.
“The intent of the freshwater regulations to stop nutrients from moving is right, because plants hold the soil,” he said.
“But to try to do it by putting a timeframe on it with no regard to good management practice allied to weather conditions is detached from common sense.”
Heavy sowing machinery used on paddocks that are too wet just compacts the soil.
“You get a double hit. You get run-off from compact soil, and it also means that you might only get 40-50% germination of the plants,” he said.
“Fewer plants mean less root mass to hold the soil.”
Meantime, some covid-related turbulence is still apparent in contracts for malting barley.
The AIMI report found the percentage of hectares forward sold for malting barley was only 41%, compared to 97% at the same time last year.
“It’s known that the lockdown and subsequent restrictions hit the sale of kegged beer, though bottled beer for drinking at home continued at pace,” he said.
“I think it’s just that uncertainty factor.
“There had been talk that China’s ban on Australia’s barley might lead to product landing on us from across the Tasman, but it hasn’t happened.
He was confident the malting barley market and forward contracts would pick up again, saying NZ’s local industry is pretty committed to domestic grain.
