LIVESTOCK producers are struggling to find affordable feed across the State with increased demand putting pressure on supply.
Demand for stock feed has soared due to the extended dry season and with producers increasing their stocking rates because of high wool and sheep meat prices.
In the past six months some buyers have seen the price for Milne Feed pellets go from $380 per tonne to $440/t – with prices expected to remain strong due to the demand.
Milne Feeds ruminant feed sales manager Dean Toovey said customers had been feeding three, four, and sometimes 10 times more than they would normally due to the length of the dry season.
“We are getting as much out to depots as we can,” Mr Toovey said.
“There’s not a lack of supply, there’s an over demand.”
Mr Toovey said it was difficult to source lupins and it would be unlikely if anyone had 100 tonnes on-farm in their silos.
“The price of grain has gone through the roof,” he said.
“We are sourcing lupins from CBH for $480 per tonne.
“It’s difficult to source lupins but we are doing the best we can.”
Mr Toovey said Milne Feeds was resigned to the fact that they would be “flat out until August” trying to meet the needs of clients.
“People from other mills have been contacting us trying to get pellets,” he said.
“We are focussed on keeping our regular customers in stock and helping them make it through to the break.”
Mr Toovey said even his clients were unable to take a huge amount of supplies at one time – as the company was handing out in “dribs and drabs” in order to help as many as possible in the short term.
He said the rain would come but the ground might be too cold for the grass to germinate enough for livestock, so there was going to be a continued demand for feed.
CBH Group general manager marketing and trading Jason Craig said the dry conditions that had surrounded the start to the 2018 seeding season in WA had driven an increase in the prices of lupins, feed barley and oats for stock feed.
“Limited local supplies of both feed barley and lupins, combined with increased demand from growers and stock feed manufacturers have seen both on-farm and trade prices increase for these commodities,” Mr Craig said.
“In addition oat stocks, which have been plentiful for the past 12 months, are now tightening with prices reflecting this situation.
“CBH is helping to maintain supplies of feed grains through the opening of a number of sites across the State where growers can elect to out-turn their warehoused grain or purchase grain from CBH.”
Grainmarket has published that lupins were up 4.7 per cent, according to Kwinana figures.
Feed barley was also at $280 per tonne as of last week.
Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA livestock committee chairman Chris Patmore said that north of Perth, where he farms around Eneabba and Perenjori, growers were on track for an average season.
“No one that I know of in the north is alarmed,” Mr Patmore said.
“If we can get a break in the season about May 20-24 every year we’d be grateful for it.
“We gear ourselves up to that every year.
“This autumn has been awesome for stock, with no summer rain to spoil the dry feed and no false germinations.
“Most of us still have a bit of stock feed reserve so it’s not a worry at the moment.”
Mr Patmore said he generally didn’t hand feed his sheep and if there were producers struggling to source feed supplies, they needed to rethink their feed budgeting for future years and allow for making it through to an average or later break.
He said the southern end of the State usually had a break in the season earlier than the north and that might be why some producers in that part of the State were concerned.
