Australia: Victorian farmers demand a revision of feed barley segregations

The Victorian Farmers Federation's West Wimmera district grains council has put forward a resolution that a study be undertaken to look at screenings and hectolitre weight (volume equal to 100 litres) of feed barley, The Weekly Times Now posted on February, 19.

The aim would ultimately be to reduce the number of feed-barley segregations.

Horsham farmer Bruce Crafter said there were five segregations last harvest with steep discounts between each grade.

He said there was a AU$15 a tonne difference between the top two grades, then AU$10 to AU$15 a tonne for the remaining grades.

"Feed five could be down to AU$130 per tonne," Mr Crafter said.

He said a study, by an independent body such as the Department of Primary Industries, was needed to look at the relationship between screenings and hectolitre weight.

The results could be used to consider changing feed-barley segregations.

Mr Crafter said feed-barley with high screenings was downgraded despite having a high hectolitre weight, as the hectolitre weight was not considered.

"We believe grain with a high hectolitre weight is high in energy," Mr Crafter said.

He said grain should fail on both scales before it was downgraded.

The proposal will be voted on at the VFF grains group conference in Lorne on March 23-25.

At the same conference, the Southern Mallee district council will ask the VFF to pressure the bulk handling companies to maintain quality standards and segregations to maximise returns to the industry.

Council member and former ABB director Alan Malcolm said it was vital that grain-quality standards be maintained.

20 February, 2009