NFU welcomes move to reward quality wheat growers

Tuesday, 15, May 2007 12:00

The NFU has welcomed the announcement of a new contract aimed at encouraging producers to consider returning to planting milling wheat.

The County Pride contract, announced this week by Glencore and Heygates, gives greater tolerance for protein, Hagberg, specific weight, moisture, content and screening levels, with reduced financial penalties.

Guy Gagen, NFU chief arable adviser, said: “For many years the NFU has been pointing out that existing cereal contracts do not offer enough support to the farmer in managing risk. This is particularly true of milling wheat where the additional cost and risk in meeting the specification has not always been reflected in premiums available.

“Farmers in England are operating in a de-coupled system, with less EU support for cereal prices. This means the supply of wheat is no longer guaranteed, and both farmers and consumers must look to the market for security.”

Arthur Hill, NFU combinable crops board chairman, said: “We are pleased to see Heygates and Glencore respond in such a positive way to the challenge UK millers face in securing quality UK wheat supplies. We strongly support this kind of initiative and look forward to other millers and traders following their lead.

“The offer of premiums on grain that exceeds specification is a real breakthrough in switching from a reliance on penalties to encouraging farmers to do their best for customer. Coupled with tolerance on fallbacks, producers will spread some of the risk of individual loads bringing down the average return on a contract.

“Feedback of information on all loads will help ensure deliveries become more reliable, an issue which has added far too much cost to the supply chain over recent years.”

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members.