THE nation's farmers are again confronting issues with their fertiliser orders, both in terms of supply and pricing.
Farmers in Western Australia, Victoria and NSW, have all been impacted in an unusually volatile lead-up to the planting season, which has seen fertiliser product freighted by road from Melbourne to the Queensland border to meet demand.
Phosphorus is again the headline act, with price hikes and issues over availability key talking points.
The issue of availability and pricing is particularly pertinent in northern NSW, right up to Goondiwindi, in Queensland, where an apparent lack of product in the right price bracket out of the traditional Brisbane market.
Leighton Huxtable, Direct Farm Inputs (DFI), a South Australian-based fertiliser distributor, said he had been taking orders for ex-Melbourne phosphorus products all the way through northern NSW.
“There seems to be a fair bit of inquiry, there doesn’t seem to be the fertiliser coming out of Brisbane.”
He said the freight for fertiliser from Melbourne to Moree, northern NSW, was $90-100 a tonne, but this was still being taken ahead of fertiliser out of Brisbane, with a $40/t freight bill.
“Some people you speak to are concerned about availability and some have found us cheaper, even with the added freight.”
He said DFI was only doing P orders, as nitrogen out of Brisbane was more competitive.
Mr Huxtable said he had heard of concerns surrounding fertiliser availability, but said it still would be possible to source product before sowing.
“There may be some shortages, there is a genuine international shortage of phosphorus, but we’ve got our ship on the water now, and we’ve got more fertiliser to sell.”
He said buyers who wanted to have product available prior to sowing would virtually have to have the fertiliser on the water now.
“It’s roughly a five-week trip from Tampa (a key phosphorus centre) and looking five weeks ahead, you’d have a lot of farmers getting ready to plant.”
In Victoria, there has been a ‘staggering’ increase in Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) members complaining to the organisation about fertiliser issues.
VFF Grains Group President Russell Amery said grain growers were becoming increasingly frustrated with the issues surrounding fertiliser.
“There have been a growing number of calls in to the office from members unable to access fertiliser or from those simply priced out of the market,” Mr Amery said.
He said there were signs of unscrupulous behaviour from fertiliser retailers.
“Some growers are being asked to pay up front with unknown delivery dates; others have ordered but have been unable to get a firm price.
“This instability is causing apprehension among growers as they attempt to budget and in many cases negotiate loans with banks for the upcoming season.
In another report of dodgy retail practice, in the west, Western Australian Farmers Federation (WAFF) president Mike Norton said his organisation had received complaints from a significant number of growers this week about their fixed-price forward contracts for fertiliser not being honoured.
Mr Norton said there were complaints about two well-known fertiliser suppliers who had locked growers into contracts earlier and were now refusing to supply the product unless farmers paid extra.
“We are currently having our legal people investigating the matter.” he said.
He said the complaints had centred on a price being stipulated in the contract and then the supplier contacting the customer and wanting extra for delivery.
Mr Norton said WAFF’s current advice to its members was to accept the delivery, without prejudice, that is, to pay the extra amount, just to get hold of the product, but to note the dispute over pricing, in case the matter is taken to the courts.
“Currently it seems very ad hoc, and we are not sure what the companies are using as the rationale for the increase, obviously the market has gone up, and fertiliser companies are wary of the losses they made last year, but a contract is a contract,” he said.
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