Taking on a grain merchant (the AIC cartel)

[Flatland guy]

I have heard for malting barley probably better if you arrange the transport, the haulier reports to you. You get sample results at point of delivery, you will know of the site where tipped or have it back at the earliest opportunity if outside of spec, the choice is yours in real time not intake tried to phone x, x not there so duly decided themselves what to do.

But that does not help with you in this current moment in time. I understand the grower bears all the risks for the merchant not picking up grain in the contractual agreement. Not only do you have to store it but you have other costs/risks of maintaining grain in spec now if malting barley looses germination over time, that risk is all borne by the grower until point of sampling on lorry. Did anyone from grain merchant sample the remaining heap on the last day or within a few days to ascertain if sample was all good? Did they contact you to say we will be late collecting and offer you a fair outcome for risks taken? It does not sound like it.

Not sure are you a member of any other associations CLA,TFA often they can help in certain situations point you in the right direction. I must admit the CLA has been a lot more proactive in recent years and have probably noticed what is happening with NFU so if you offer a service you have to be able to give some sort of return otherwise you loose members/income.

 

[Willie adie]

There lab decision/results are final as far as I know. We'd a similar situation at harvest. One merchant rejecting everything. Went in at other place with acceptable germination.

The tests are subject to the individual testing them. There isn't any exact science to it unfortunately.

My advice would be to avoid malting barley contracts.

We had same here , massive discrepancies on germination and moisture between two merchants.
When asked how it was done was told it was by eye of the person doing it,
Hardly hi tec in this day and age.

 

[Willie adie]

If honesty and integrity are important to you, then don't consort with pimps, prostitutes, drug dealers, thieves, politicians or barley buyers.

Add auctioneers to that list

 

[Luke Cropwalker]

The proposed move to digital passports is meant to give real time results direct back to the farmer. I cannot help but think that can only help these scenarios.

The trade could do this without digital passports, if they wished.

 

[Chae1]

We had same here , massive discrepancies on germination and moisture between two merchants.
When asked how it was done was told it was by eye of the person doing it,
Hardly hi tec in this day and age.

This is the problem it's purely subjective. The person testing could be having a bad day and take it out on farmer.

Other thing is I think once they start getting problems on one farm, they expect to find them again and it backs up the fact they were right with previous loads they rejected.

 

[Willie adie]

We had a lorry load went to a store a couple years back, tested and passed fine , I took the remaining grain that was left ( not a full load) probably 10 tonnes or so myself with tractor, this the same stuff that was on lorry failed due to presence of a beetle in the load, that " must've been from the shed so the whole lot is f**ked" ok I said how come the lorry load passed fine,
Upon re checking my load the presence of this beetle was no longer there,
f**king @rseholes

 

[Chae1]

We had a lorry load went to a store a couple years back, tested and passed fine , I took the remaining grain that was left ( not a full load) probably 10 tonnes or so myself with tractor, this the same stuff that was on lorry failed due to presence of a beetle in the load, that " must've been from the shed so the whole lot is f**ked" ok I said how come the lorry load passed fine,
Upon re checking my load the presence of this beetle was no longer there,
f**king @rseholes

Always ask for beetle as evidence. Often changes there tune.

 

[Davylad]

Add auctioneers to that list

Add Fertiliser merchants too !

 

[Davylad]

Add auctioneers to that list

Add Fertiliser merchants too !

 

[Cab-over Pete]

This is outrageous. I would never deal with that party again.

It happened to Dad years ago. Load was about to leave, driver was turning straight round to come back for another. He was a mate of Dads so he tagged along for a ride and a look at the mill.

When they had nearly got there he had a call to say there had been a claim. He was sat not 6 ft in front of the load still on the way there!

 

[Woody j]

It happened to Dad years ago. Load was about to leave, driver was turning straight round to come back for another. He was a mate of Dads so he tagged along for a ride and a look at the mill.

When they had nearly got there he had a call to say there had been a claim. He was sat not 6 ft in front of the load still on the way there!

How did they explain that when they turned up at the mill

 

[steveR]

How did they explain that when they turned up at the mill

Stupidity........

 

[Clive]

This is outrageous. I would never deal with that party again.

when we ran haulage we had occasions where we were informed of moisture claims. ………. whilst the truck was still on the m6 !

it’s bent as ……


not merchants to blame though, individual mills are the problem and there are some i would avoid like the plague

we very rarely have issues these days

 

[principal skinner]

Had spurious claims from one of the big merchants in the past, was asked outright from the buyer if we were ‘going to fall out over it’ my reply was if you want. They used to have all our harvest, all our seed and fert purchases. Not sold them a grain or bought from them for five years now. Just don’t answer the phone to them or return messages. He’s got the message!

 

[Cab-over Pete]

How did they explain that when they turned up at the mill

I’m not sure, it was over 25 years ago.

I dare say there was nobody there who wanted to take responsibility.

I do know it riled Dad up so much he wrote to the letters page of Farmers Weekly and it was published. That really took some doing for Dad.

Nothing came of it though.

 

[Green oak]

We had a local hauler ask for some as available wheat. So I said come in the field then. We loaded it up straight from the combine around 5 o clock that evening. Got rejected the next morning for grain wevil. And then got told by the merchant that we haven’t cleaned the store out properly.

 

[Farmer T]

Had spurious claims from one of the big merchants in the past, was asked outright from the buyer if we were ‘going to fall out over it’ my reply was if you want. They used to have all our harvest, all our seed and fert purchases. Not sold them a grain or bought from them for five years now. Just don’t answer the phone to them or return messages. He’s got the message!

I really like this- but it doesn’t change the in-balance in the relationship currently. There has to be a counter- terms and conditions from the growers.

It’s embarrassing that the AHDB or NFU haven’t bothered with this over the years. NFU Sugar has shown how a growers collective leads to a fairer contract regarding risk.

 

[Chae1]

We had a local hauler ask for some as available wheat. So I said come in the field then. We loaded it up straight from the combine around 5 o clock that evening. Got rejected the next morning for grain wevil. And then got told by the merchant that we haven’t cleaned the store out properly.

It could have been hiding in lorry from a previous load. Under rollover cover etc

When we had load rejected for beetle, we got the beetle from them and it was from wood, the hauliers previous load had been woodchip.

 

[crazy_bull]

We had a local hauler ask for some as available wheat. So I said come in the field then. We loaded it up straight from the combine around 5 o clock that evening. Got rejected the next morning for grain wevil. And then got told by the merchant that we haven’t cleaned the store out properly.

that is actually quite common, you get clover weevil in the crop that once in the store bugger off fairly quickly, trouble is when loaded shortly off the combine or even from the combine they look very much like a store born pest so can cause issues on identifying.

C B

 

[Green oak]

that is actually quite common, you get clover weevil in the crop that once in the store bugger off fairly quickly, trouble is when loaded shortly off the combine or even from the combine they look very much like a store born pest so can cause issues on identifying.

C B

The good old clover weevil. That what it was. Must have cost the industry millions.