Cofco - Harvest collection problems

Shutesy

Moderator
Arable Farmer
Had over a weeks wait for them to pick up a half load of winter barley to empty the shed out but that's to be expected to be fair. The rest of it went pretty quick so no complaints here.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
It has taken Gleadell/ADM a month to lift my osr :mad: Partly to do with filling the designated store nearby before mine could go in & partly due to lack of lorries. I've had to hold off cutting spring oats as the osr is in the shed where the oats will be going.

I know who won't be getting that job next year! United Oilseeds were also a bit slow but got the job done in a couple of weeks.
 

Fuzzy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bedfordshire
Had over a weeks wait for them to pick up a half load of winter barley to empty the shed out but that's to be expected to be fair. The rest of it went pretty quick so no complaints here.
Was speaking to a merchant up here yesterday and she said a month now for malting barley uplift.
It has taken Gleadell/ADM a month to lift my osr :mad: Partly to do with filling the designated store nearby before mine could go in & partly due to lack of lorries. I've had to hold off cutting spring oats as the osr is in the shed where the oats will be going.

I know who won't be getting that job next year! United Oilseeds were also a bit slow but got the job done in a couple of weeks.
I am finished harvest, but unfortunately cut a few loads of wheat and beans at above ideal moisture and they sit at the back of the shed, so need some wheat (sold pre harvest) out the way so i can get it dried.
The sold wheat is nice and dry but at the front of the heap !!
Plan B is to cut hole in shed (removing brick wall) and take it out the back... then i could install some shiny concrete panels on hinges ready for next year ...
 

DRC

Member
Cofco picked my early cut wheat up quickly , but we are near Mills and Chicken farms that use a lot of feed wheat . GO Davies also very good at moving wheat and Barley.
My oats also went to Mornflake at Crewe quickly , as they had fixing they couldn’t fill. It was a rubbish price though and the letter came today that said they’d knocked a fiver off for being 15.5% FFS !
Last year for oats here
 

Widgetone

Member
Trade
Location
Westish Suffolk
Cofco picked my early cut wheat up quickly , but we are near Mills and Chicken farms that use a lot of feed wheat . GO Davies also very good at moving wheat and Barley.
My oats also went to Mornflake at Crewe quickly , as they had fixing they couldn’t fill. It was a rubbish price though and the letter came today that said they’d knocked a fiver off for being 15.5% FFS !
Last year for oats here
Only a fiver at Crewe?! You got off lightly imho:rolleyes:
 

fudge

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire.
It has taken Gleadell/ADM a month to lift my osr :mad: Partly to do with filling the designated store nearby before mine could go in & partly due to lack of lorries. I've had to hold off cutting spring oats as the osr is in the shed where the oats will be going.

I know who won't be getting that job next year! United Oilseeds were also a bit slow but got the job done in a couple of weeks.
A month to pick up as available? Did they offer you payment for the storage?

Cooperative marketing has a bad name in the UK. However the concentration of buying power into the hands of US Agro-business makes me wonder whether the concept needs revisiting.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
A month to pick up as available? Did they offer you payment for the storage?

Cooperative marketing has a bad name in the UK. However the concentration of buying power into the hands of US Agro-business makes me wonder whether the concept needs revisiting.

I must admit they had bumped it from "as available" to August collection so they are still technically correct. Not what I asked for or agreed at the time though. I've already priced 90% of it for Nov 19. The carry paid for the £8/t storage straight away, so a no brainer if they had lifted it sooner.
 

Fuzzy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bedfordshire
Still no progress on this and the excuses(lies ?) keep coming from COFCO International.
first it was lack of lorries
then it was lack of return loads for lorries
now it is a problem with the end customer

This is for an as available Harvest collection contract! (4 loads) ....14 loads (3 different companies)have left the farm already including 2 to cofco. And i already have payment for 7 of those.

Beginning to sound like the the kind of excuses i used to get with a company called WELLGRAIN !!!!!!!!!
 

PSQ

Member
Arable Farmer
Slow movement seems to be a big problem this year, reports of serious issues at all three of the big local buyers / co-op stores.

Chatting to the hauliers, theres no shortage of wagons, just a shortage of legitimate drivers as the electronic tacho cant be fiddled. Long gone are the days of regularly finding paper tacho cards strewn along the verges from the 'extra' weekend hours at harvest. We're just going to have to get used to it, it's only going to get worse as drivers get tempted away by better money outside of ag work. Lets face it, it was the 'harvest bonus hours' that made up a big part of their profits, and the merchants (up here at least) are slitting their own throats by freezing haulage rates for the 6th year in a row...
 
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rob1

Member
Location
wiltshire
never known it to take so long to get grain picked up, several owner drivers I know have jacked the job in due to being f**ked about, HGV drivers are in huge demand so its no surprise they give up driving their own wagon, shame us farmers dont do the same perhaps the supermarkets might take notice when their shelves are empty
 

Sonoftheheir

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
West Suffolk
Haven’t had any problems here with Frontier t/a Fengrain, using Betts haulage. Had 6 different lorries and drivers in this wk from them.

They’re ok if you don’t mind an hours notice of collection though.
 

Reginald

New Member
I thought Cofco have done a good job with movements to be fair, this is my first season using them, as my rep has moved company and has started working for them. All good so far.
 

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