you said don't tar everyone with the same brush, then tarred all your farmer customers with the same brush
Getting paid for straw ?
- Thread starter Clive
- Start date
- Location
- Berkshire
I’ve learnt my lessons on straw...
I deal with one Farmer/contractor selling in the swath, we work together to smooth out the peaks and troughs of the jobs, despite receiving many offers of higher prices etc
Anything sold baled is sold via auction with payment up front
I’ve now reached something I’ve strived for previously, a straw for muck deal which means the only straw baled in the future will be half the Spring Barley area for muck, apart from a 2018 scenario when Straw is tight and then I would bale the rest of the SB if it helps my one reliable Farmer/contractor
I deal with one Farmer/contractor selling in the swath, we work together to smooth out the peaks and troughs of the jobs, despite receiving many offers of higher prices etc
Anything sold baled is sold via auction with payment up front
I’ve now reached something I’ve strived for previously, a straw for muck deal which means the only straw baled in the future will be half the Spring Barley area for muck, apart from a 2018 scenario when Straw is tight and then I would bale the rest of the SB if it helps my one reliable Farmer/contractor
- Location
- Bedfordshire
We remove it and put it back as muck.
BUT we also have probably 3x the amount of straw in many situations that you would, and we have slugs which love straw to hide under.
As an industry straw is needed to bed animals for the winter, which I guess you don't really do.
Timbo
Member
- Location
- Gods County
BACS payment when the lorry is loaded before the yard gate is opened....?
- Location
- Bury St Edmunds
Simple, payment up front or 2 loads max credit. Sold several hundred tons like this a couple of years ago, if they want it they will pay. No time for bad payers here.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
Auction is the only sensible way.
- Location
- Ceredigion
Newbury auction , not one load of wheat sold ,
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
I'm talking auctions while it's still standing in the field.....no point messing around baling/storing and selling in the winter. That's what straw merchants are there for, not farmers.
M-J-G
Member
But if more is chopped in future these bad payers won't get the straw that isn't.
I'd guess last years ship has sailed, and if it hasn't, chop this years anyway.
Most arable ground needs all it can get.
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ollie989898
Member
Trouble is, if I was a fairly sizeable arable farmer, I would want to know I was selling the stuff for sensible money and helping the livestock guys out, after all, livestock underpin the demand for feed grains (and even OSR, sunflower etc indirectly), in the UK. It is thus in my interests that the livestock sector prospers. I'd also prefer to forge a relationship with a few guys and get to know and trust them, knowing that they would take the straw year after year.
An auction is purely a money transaction, you might get crazy good prices one year and not see a guy the next.
Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
To some extend I'd agree with you, but it's also business.
We usually have the same buyers back each year, but sometimes some buy more or less than others because their needs change (e.g some left in barn from last year because they bought more cheap to stock up etc). An auction allows this flexibility to continue to exist if needed - if person A buys less because they don't need it, but I need it sold, then person B can step in and bid for it. That way I'm happy (all sold), person A is happy because they didn't feel beholden to buy it, and person B is happy because they got some straw they may have thought otherwise was spoken for.
No two years are ever the same. Many buyers like to spread their risk and buy from several auctions rather than have all their eggs in one basket with one. That can strengthen a relationship because the pressure isn't all on one farmer.
Auctions also put the ball entirely in the bidders court - you see the crop, choose how much it's worth, and it's all clear beforehand. If you don't think it's worth it, don't bid that much. The responsibility rests with the bidders themselves. That can strengthen relationships too.
Long story short - auctions make things clear all round which avoids many hiccups.
- Location
- Ceredigion
I bet you a lot of straw that is selling at auctions now cost double that in the row , but that's not Clive's problem, but it will bite us in the leg next harvest , chop chop chop
smcapstick
Member
- Location
- Kirkby Lonsdale
It’s easy to be righteous when you’re talking about somebody else’s business.
Money is a lot… but I’ll concede that it isn’t everything. Nobody wants a load of ballache from a buyer, even if they are offering the best money.
I always look for sensible money from a sensible customer.
Jo28
Member
- Location
- East Yorks
Just chop it, we do every year, problem solved.
What a whingeing OP, if you actually want to get paid then take the dealer to court, they are taking the pee because you are letting them. Posting on here has got nothing to do with getting paid, it's just whining about straw. You claim to be some great business man but don't know how to ask for payment up front? Utter nonsense.
I’ve bought all the straw in swath from the same farmer for 30 years,
He doesn’t rob me we bale and shift the straw as he wants. When he sends the invoice I pay within 30 days. There’s roughly 200 acres , it’s all for our own use, he’s been offered crazy money from other people but I get the phone call every August so I must be doing something right.
It’s all about good business relationships and of course trust.
He doesn’t rob me we bale and shift the straw as he wants. When he sends the invoice I pay within 30 days. There’s roughly 200 acres , it’s all for our own use, he’s been offered crazy money from other people but I get the phone call every August so I must be doing something right.
It’s all about good business relationships and of course trust.
lloyd
Member
- Location
- Herefordshire
Money up front a month before the combine if sold privately
or put it in auction with reserve .It will be the best 5% commission you ever
pay an auctioneer .This is pretty basic stuff to be honest and cant understand the
logic of payment 28 days after cutting,that is very risky business.
or put it in auction with reserve .It will be the best 5% commission you ever
pay an auctioneer .This is pretty basic stuff to be honest and cant understand the
logic of payment 28 days after cutting,that is very risky business.
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