THE CBH Group has made an unprecedented move and released information on how much grain it has in stock in response to concerns about the food supply due to COVID-19.
The co-operative sent a statement to growers last Friday stating it would be publicly reporting wheat and barley stock levels in the CBH system, in line with similar moves by the other major Australian bulk handlers.
Currently CBH has more than five million tonnes of grain in its silos, with barley making up just over 2mt and wheat just over 3mt.
In the statement, CBH said during this unprecedented time, it wanted to make grain stocks transparent at a high level, given public, industry and government concerns.
"While this is not in line with CBH's normal practice of not reporting stocks due to the exposure of our growers' position to the international market, there is an understandable heightened concern in our domestic industry regarding the availability of grain as we go through the COVID-19 crisis," the statement said.
"When harvest commences and the COVID-19 crisis abates, we will return to normal reporting protocols with stock information provided to growers and marketers on the secure LoadNet portal and cease the high level public stock report."
The report shows stock owned by both growers and marketers in the CBH system and does not distinguish between committed and uncommitted stock.
WAFarmers grains section president Mic Fels said his organisation supported the idea of industry being more open with stocks reporting in general.
"At a time when everyone is a bit worried about food security, CBH is making it clear that supply of grain is not an issue and we certainly support them doing that," Mr Fels said.
"It's a discussion for another day about what level of stock disclosure is good for the industry as a whole and the important thing is that growers have the same access to information that the trade has.
"But in terms of the current coronavirus situation, I think this decision from CBH was purely about making it clear that there is plenty of grain in WA and that is a good first step."
The public reports will be based on wheat and barley stock levels in the CBH system, at a State level, by class and will be released every month until October 1.