FABA beans are a vital part of South East farmer Charlie Koch's Tallageira Pastoral Company operation near Frances.
"We have 1000 hectares of beans in this year, and they have always been a pretty successful crop for us in their own right," he said.
"They are also extremely important as a break crop and an important part of our overall operation.
"With beans, there's been a lot of frustration from growers in our area about trying to deliver to a very tight specification and being penalised for FIE2 when these beans often go to the same market as FIE1.
"In a perfect world, we would produce a bean with no defects and a brilliant colour, but in reality even with the best management practices, because of seasonal conditions, it's not always possible.
"As growers, we can only deliver the beans that nature dictates to us. It's one of the reasons why such a low proportion of beans are committed forward compared to other grains. We never know the quality until they're harvested."
Charlie says the change to faba bean deliveries this season would alleviate the excessive time taken to deliver beans and issues of "over-classification".
"With long delivery times, it puts our valuable crop at further risk of downgrading, due to weather damage," he said.
For the 2014-15 season, Viterra will only receive two faba bean grades – FIE1V, which covers beans that meet the Pulse Australia minimum standard for grade 2 and higher, and FIEF stock feed grade.
Charlie says if growers did not agree with the changes made by Viterra, there were other options available to them.
"I would encourage other marketers if they are looking for beans for niche markets to work with growers and offer them the premium they deserve," he said.
"With this change, Viterra will have to be competitive on price, otherwise growers will not support it and will deliver their beans elsewhere.
"If the prices aren't competitive, I know Viterra will struggle to get the beans, because of other options, such as on-farm storage, other bulk handlers and container packing plants."