Malcolm Bartholomeaus steps back after decades of watching grain markets

But the much loved and respected author of the Smart Marketing and Grain Bulletin columns begins his retirement after three decades of watching the market.

Growing up on a property in the Mid North, Malcolm's heart was always in cropping and that love, combined with an aptitude for economics, led to a lifelong career in a side of the industry he never expected.

After studying a Master of Economics and working as a university lecturer in his early years, he returned to his family farm in the 1980s, working the land with his parents while starting his own consultancy business.

"In 1991 was the first year we saw cash prices for wheat at all silos after the domestic market was deregulated," he said.

"I asked a mate how he was going to work out whether the cash prices were good and he told me 'you're my consultant, you'll tell me'.

"I drove home from Jamestown and by the time I got home, I'd worked out if I contacted everyone I knew had a fax machine and said for $100 I'd tell them if the price is any good for the next 10 weeks, I'd have something.

"I rang 10 people and nine of them signed on so we started doing that and within the first week it very quickly progressed to not just wheat but to barley and peas and so on.

"At the end of that harvest, I had 80 clients and my costs were about $100, so it was a pretty good business."

This small idea grew into a newsletter, which he delivered to his clients each week for decades, expanding to cover not just markets in SA, but across into Vic and NSW.

About the same time, while Malcolm was at a conference at Roseworthy College, he met up with then-Stock Journal editor Peter Fuller while he was spruiking his newly-created newsletter

"He approached me and asked if I wanted to write a markets weekly column," he said. "I thought to myself that I didn't really want to, but if I didn't do it, someone else would.

"And every week since then, I have been churning out an article."

His patch has since grown, adding a second column, which appears in agricultural mastheads nationwide of what is now Australian Community Media.

In the three decades of publication, he said only took one, six-week break to travel overseas, but was on-deck for every other edition - two articles a week, 52 weeks a year.

"Very early on, I got a laptop computer, which cost me around $10,000," he said.

"And I got a little inkjet printer and I had that out on the road with me.

"I remember sitting on the beach at Moonta Bay typing away and hoping the battery wouldn't run out on me.

"One night in Moonta Bay, a huge storm was rolling in and I was sitting outside with the family shining torches on me so I could write the article before the storm blew in that night.

"I printed it out and walked down the street in Moonta trying to con one of the shop owners into letting me use their fax machine to send the article in - and I got it done."

Another memory from his time in the role was when prices peaked during Easter in 1996 as he was visiting family in New Zealand.

Malcolm said he had set up in his brother-in-law's office to make sure everything was faxed away on time.

"There were even some Mondays where I'd finish writing the newsletter, photocopy it for my clients and (my wife) Marion would be driving down the road at 5pm chasing the mailman to get it out," he said.

As technology developed, Malcolm was able to email his articles and newsletters through each week, so instead of spending his holidays searching for a fax machine, he would instead be on a train with his laptop getting the work finished between stops.

"I was one on the train between Christchurch and Picton on the South Island of New Zealand waiting for a phone signal to come through so I could email the article off," he said.

"I'd give myself time off from the newsletter, but I would never do that to Stock Journal - it had to be done and I would always find a way to do it."

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In his time in the industry, Malcolm has witnessed some big changes, including the cash price, the end of the wheat pool and Australian Wheat Board, and deregulation across a number of commodities - as well as some big shifts on the international scene.

While there have been countless changes in the grain market, there are three major occasions that stand out to Malcolm.

"About once a decade there were major peaks and drops in the market," he said.

"In 1996 we had a dramatic price rise before the market dropped away.

"Then in 2007, the market peaked again and that was our record to beat until now.

"We beat that peak a few weeks ago - with the market at an all time high, it feels like my time to walk away."

Looking to the future, Malcolm said he was keen to spend more time with his family and try his best to keep an eye off the market.

"Marion and I will hit the road for two weeks and my laptop and phone will be left at home," he said.

"Who knows what we'll do after that, but we've got plenty of time to figure it out."

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