SOME WA growers have experienced difficulty sourcing important herbicides and chemicals this seeding period after good starting rains across much of Australia's grain growing regions placed pressure on supplies.
According to Landmark WA agriculture chemical manager Zach Walsh if growers ordered today they could encounter wait times of between seven to 10 days for some products.
Mr Walsh said the early break on both the east coast and WA and the opportunity to achieve double knock down, had increased demand for the products.
"Basically you would put it down to a bigger crop going in across Australia," Mr Walsh said.
"While Landmark tries to get as much as we can to fill the market, some suppliers don't carry buffer stock, they don't risk taking the punt on the season anymore.
"They won't be happy to bring a volume in and get caught with the risk of carrying stock for 12 months, there is the capital cost of that, but then if the cost goes up or down in that time they aren't exposing themselves to that."
Mr Walsh said while there were good levels of post-emergent product currently available, those farmers chasing supplies in mid to late-June might not be able to purchase required products in certain towns if they waited.
"Our advice would be that if you haven't organised all of your post-emergent chemical now that it is probably the first phone call you should make tomorrow," he said.
Narrogin-based Planfarm consultant Bill O'Neill said the shortage had not impacted on his clients.
"None of my clients have had to change their plans or complained about not being able to get any chemicals," Mr O'Neill said.
"If you're organised you're okay, but if you wanted to go in and buy all your Roundup today you might have trouble."
With rumours that post-emergent chemical supply could tighten in coming months, Mr O'Neill said he had advised his clients to talk to their suppliers to ensure they knew what farmers' requirements were.
Syngenta Australia head of specialty crops Sam Hole said there were two parts to the chemical shortage that was being experienced across Australia.
Firstly, non-selective herbicides, specifically Paraquat (sold by Syngenta as Gramoxone and Sprayseed) had been affected by some changes in China.
"Effectively what has happened is a combination of reduced production in China because of some regulatory changes coupled with unprecedented demand out of North America and Brazil on the back of glyphosate resistance," Mr Hole said.
He said significant glyphosate resistance issues in the Americas had seen the increased use of Paraquat.
"So supplies into Australia for the last nine months have been pretty tight at times," he said.
"Obviously when it is dry there is enough product around, but when we get a break like we have had in WA and in south east Australia, any company that is supplying those products will struggle to keep up with demand, but this has been made worse in 2014 due to supply shortages out of China."
Mr Hole said the second part involved pre-emergent herbicides such as Trifluralin, Triallate, Boxer Gold and Sakura.
"Again a combination of timing of a pretty widespread break across WA, South Australia and south east Australia means that everyone wants product at the same time," he said.
"And on top of that as margins made from these products for suppliers, particularly resellers, start to get squeezed, everyone is hesitant to hang on to large volumes of stock ready for when it rains.
"It is risky to hold large volumes and therefore when it rains and every farmer wants the product straight away, the whole supply chain including the resellers struggle to meet that demand."
DALWALLINU grower Noel Mills (right), pictured with son Aaron, said while he hadn't experienced difficulty sourcing chemical so far this season because he had pre-ordered stock, there had been some delays in distribution.
"The chemicals companies must be under the pump because the stock has only been delivered to the farm in dribs and drabs," Mr Mills said.
"Normally you get the whole lot pretty quickly but they have been delivering to us as we need it and when a truckload comes in they deliver some more.
"I guess the demand has caught them on the back foot because they didn't expect the season to start so early."
