Aust Fertilizer

[malleefarmer]

DFI adopts collective model to import fertiliser
PAULA THOMPSON
8/01/2009 4:00:00 AM
KAROONDA farmer and businessman Leighton Huxtable is urging growers to form co-operatives as the struggle to make money from agriculture becomes harder.
And he says it will be the model for Direct Farm Inputs, the company he jointly set up with Western Australian businessman John Hurley to import fertiliser into Australia.

But he wants growers to "put their money where their mouth is" because only farmers who buy fertiliser from the company will be invited to be involved.

"We have produced benefits already for growers, with fertiliser prices falling in recent weeks. If they don't want to be part of this and be committed under these circumstances, they never will," Mr Huxtable said.

Those growers who purchased their fertiliser requirements before DFI entered the market would be required to show 'proof of purchase' if they wanted to become part of the co-op.

Mr Huxtable said DFI wants committed growers to collectively import their inputs.

"We're seriously looking at supplying diesel down the track and we would like to look at grain storage and handling and put competition into that market," he said.

Mr Huxtable said response to DFI had been so great that it would sell into New South Wales and Victoria.

"The demand from those states has been extreme, so we are going to unload there, and there will be multiple shipments as a result of that," he said.

Mr Huxtable said while the response had been strong in South Australia, some farmers were having trouble finding the finance needed to pay for their fertiliser costs upfront.

DFI had left its prices for MAP and DAP at $1030 a tonne, but Mr Huxtable said significant rebates would be given back to growers.

* Extract from a full report in Stock Journal, January 8 issue.

Comments

[SASKFARMER3]

mallee I like this guy, Go head to head against the buggers and he is a farmer. I been saying if farmers just once got off their laid back back sides and stood up to these parasites we would win. Just check out profit margins of all Ag related companies, Huge profits for last year and on, Yet primary producer is struggling with low prices. Got like it.

[wmoebis]

Read about the history of the prairie pools, United grain growers and the co-operative movement in western Canada
Are we not talking about reinventing the wheel?

[SASKFARMER3]

No its a few farmers getting together to take on the suppliers. Its not every single farmer in Western Canada putting up $5.00 for a share.

[malleefarmer]

sask if ican get the full article i will post it.
think the oo-ops wmoebis is talking off and correct if im wrong have corporate backing therefore they fall apart eventually
they are basically non profit

dont you guys band together in groups to achieve better prices ie here we have a group of 60 farmers and we tender for 3 million litres of fuel a year and its based on terminal gate pricing on any given day a farmer wants to order.

if anyone ever wants to email me privately cause theres only so much i can say on a public forum i will give more info in detail blacketp@bigpond.com

ps im best mates with karoonda farmer mentioned above and weve been in business before so i can fill you in.

[SASKFARMER3]

No read the fertilizer comments to me, Farmers in Canada couldn't agree on how cold it is today let alone making some real big savings going direct.

[malleefarmer]

Late last year fertiliser prices dropped dramatically in South Australia - industry says this was due to international factors as well as increased competition in the market.

Direct Farm Inputs was set up last month offering much lower fertiliser prices which in turn forced the prices down across the board.

Initially the company was ordering a boatload of fertiliser - but because of grower demand, this has now tripled.

"Initially when we came out in the market there was a big difference between our price and the opposition." says Mr Huxtable.

'But of course the competition have come down and met us and even come below us. So now we're coming out of Melbourne and Geelong, it's more beneficial for growers in Victoria and New South Wales to come out of those facilities."

Company director Leighton Huxtable says the company's vision is to turn it into a grower cooperative by mid next year.

So is this the way of the future?

Does there need to be more cooperatives to give growers control over market price especially since the fertiliser industry is dominated by corporates?

Ravensdown is a fertiliser grower cooperative which has 60 per cent marketshare of New Zealand's fertiliser industry.

It was formed 30 years ago by farmers who were dissatifisied with fertiliser prices.

Today, New Zealand is one of the cheapest places to buy fertiliser.

And only last year the cooperative had made its mark in West Australia and is now hoping to expand its foodprint into the eastern states.

The cooperative's general manager in Western Australia Allan Thompson says since the co-operative's inception fertiliser prices have markedly reduced in New Zealand and West Australia.

"Farmers had become disillusioned with corporate suppliers of fertiliser in New Zealand. The service was poor, the quality was poor, and prices were high." he says.

"Over 30 years the [co-operative] has pushed corporates entirely out of the fertiliser industry in New Zealand."