Standing crops.

DRC

Member
Does anyone sell their cereal crops standing, as in the complete crop by auction on farm.
A lot of straw is sold like that in this area, although half the farmers that turn up are there to value their own straw without paying commission.
Sometimes think it would be nice to have a summer off and sell everything this way.
How much would you want for a 3 ton crop of wheat, including straw, to make you not bother to harvest, dry, store and reload?
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
Who would you expect to harvest it? Contractor? Local farmer?

Would need someone with a combine, trailers and ideally a grainstore to make it work. As for price - estimated yield x spot price. Straw sale should cover the harvesting costs.

Would make for a bit of a gamble if not selling the grain straight off the combine.
 
First thing is what's it cost you to grow it to the stage of the sale day? So you want that back.

Then work out what your saving from the sale day to harvest?

Then look at the forward market price available at harvest from the sale day (eg sell on 5th June so what is the price on say 25th August). Also think about the straw sale price in the swath.

Then your answer is somewhere in between.......

Local one to me last year was from memory £635/ac for a standing crop of Diego wheat. Then they sold the straw at £35/ac I think so net at £600/ac.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
I have bought standing wheat a few years - sometime we do very well out of it and others not so great

It's a bit of a gamble as a buyer re yield and drying etc

If anyone's selling I would be interested in anything up to 50miles away
 
3.5t of wheat is year as a standing crop would make over £600/ac.

Also harvesting cost is no where near straw sale price. A combine harvester is costed over known acres. A standing crop auction is opportunity cost. So when you send your combine into the field to cut the standing crop, your combines purchase/hire annual price is covered. Your paying extra fuel and labour mainly with possibly a bit of metal such as knife sections.

A few assumptions but fag packet maths:

Fuel @ 70/hr @ 70ppl = £49/hr / 8ac/hr average = £6/ac
Labour @ £12/hr / 8ac = £1.50/ac
Consumables £2/ac

Total for combine £9.50/ac

Corn cart team: say 2 tractors/trailers @ £30/hr each @ 14hr/day = £840 / 112ac = £7.50/ac

Total £17/ac.

If anybody is selling straw for £17/ac then if I was you I would send some straw samples of to a lab and get it tested for lost nutrient value, then add in the fact of soil damage from balers, loaders, trailers etc then add in some profit for actually putting up with the hassle especially if your wanting to plant osr after the wheat, and you will quickly be at £50/ac (that's just probably opened up the annual straw sale discussion on here............. :) )
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
And a bit more, especially where the demand is.

Agreed. But my point being, you need some profit somewhere too! If you value the crop at the value of the wheat and the straw put together and you bid that amount...what is the point buying it. You're turning £10k into straw/grain, to turn it back into cash in several months time for the same value. Not only that, you're taking a risk on harvesting it dry (and the straw too!)....possible breakdowns....storage costs (even if only temporary)...not to mention the two biggest gambles, the ACTUAL yield and whether grain goes up/down between auction date, and when you sell the grain.
 

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
What you putting in said groung in autumn sounds very risky to me the buyer will do there own first to get next crop off to good start. if you have had enough why dont you approach someone you trust to do a good job to buy the crop off you and contract farm it for you from autumn onwards
 

DRC

Member
Not seriously considering it, but as a one man band it crossed my mind. I was thinking more of livestock farmers for whole crop. Fields would be cleared early.
 

DRC

Member
Sell crimp to dairy men you get rid early no harvesting or drying risks and a lot more weight
I have got a chap who want's 30 acres for crimping, although there's more weight, there is a formula for reducing the price accordingly.
You do gain on drying and storage costs, plus spreading workload.
 
Not seriously considering it, but as a one man band it crossed my mind. I was thinking more of livestock farmers for whole crop. Fields would be cleared early.

If the dairy guy is looking at buying in cereals at £200/t and because cereals are £200/t then surely all the other feeds would be priced highly then surely he's better off paying say £800/ac for whole crop and getting 5t/acre yield = £160/tonne?
 
Too many variables IMHO, reducing your work load is worth £??? to you. And thats possibly the biggest factor in what could become a very complex calculation.
Simplify it..... if the dairy guy wants it its 30acres less to worry about when you might be under the cosh??
 
Too many variables IMHO, reducing your work load is worth £??? to you. And thats possibly the biggest factor in what could become a very complex calculation.
Simplify it..... if the dairy guy wants it its 30acres less to worry about when you might be under the cosh??

I think I would consider a sensible offer to sell some of my crops this year. Just the actual grain though as I would want all straw dropped into swaths to sell the straw separately. It will be interesting to see where the forth coming auctions for standing crops ends up price wise after last years bad harvest.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
I think I would consider a sensible offer to sell some of my crops this year. Just the actual grain though as I would want all straw dropped into swaths to sell the straw separately. It will be interesting to see where the forth coming auctions for standing crops ends up price wise after last years bad harvest.

will be interesting to see how a 2nd wheat is valued vs what is normally sold
 

Pedders

Member
Location
West Sussex
I think I would consider a sensible offer to sell some of my crops this year. Just the actual grain though as I would want all straw dropped into swaths to sell the straw separately. It will be interesting to see where the forth coming auctions for standing crops ends up price wise after last years bad harvest.


I very much doubt what you would deem a sensible offer would be very sensible for the buyer !!
 
will be interesting to see how a 2nd wheat is valued vs what is normally sold

The 'normal' local auction of standing crops this year is Barley - looks good from the road but no idea what that would make?

And as for selling 2nd wheats I dont think it would be a good sellers price thats for sure. For both seller and buyer 1st wheat is the only really fair crop to do I think.
 
I very much doubt what you would deem a sensible offer would be very sensible for the buyer !!

I have not sat down and worked it out with regards to what its cost to grow totally and what the potential selling price is but there would be a happy medium somewhere I would of thought! Loads of things to consider though not just the crop itself, like if my sheds were not full of crops then I luckily have alternative uses for them. Also no drying costs and no loading in and out. No hassle of combining so your saving fuel, labour and some machine costs.

Also no dealing with blinking haulage companies who either just turn up unannounced or tell you their coming so you get ready for them, then just never turn up and cant be bothered to let you know. Thats worth a lot!! :)
 

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