SA farmers should not expect a reprieve on feed prices in the short-term, as limited carryover stocks and dwindling pastures from the dry 2018 season keep the market buoyant.
Australian Fodder Industry Association chief executive officer John McKew said while central and South East SA were still finishing off harvest and baling straw, demand continued to be steady from all livestock industries.
“We are not seeing any softening of prices, even with new harvest crops becoming available,” he said.
Cereal and canola hay was still $300 a tonne to $350/t, lucerne $420-$480/t and straw hay $160-$250/t, plus transport costs.
“There was more canola and frosted wheat hay cut during harvest, but yields were down in hay-growing areas,” Mr McKew said.
“The dry year has meant sheds are empty and there is less pasture about, so there has also been no carryover.”
Related reading: Hay relief for Eudunda region
Mr McKew said there was also a “great deal of uncertainty” about what the 2019 season would deliver.
“If we don’t get an adequate autumn break, we could get to May/June and be in a lot of trouble when it comes to the supply of fodder to take us through winter and spring,” he said.
“We need a good autumn break and a good flush of grass to take the pressure off. It may bring prices down to a degree, but we still have no carryover stocks.
“That is going to put a substantial floor in the price of fodder for some time.”
In late September, as parts of the state continued to face drought conditions, the government promised a register to connect fodder with those in need.
Primary Industries Minister Tim Whetstone said the register received contact from a number of producers, seeking help or feed, and they connected these farmers with hay and fodder-donating charities.
Livestock SA CEO Andrew Curtis said they too had been connecting farmers with fodder-providing charities, such as Buy a Bale, Aussie Farmers, Helping SA Farmers and Need for Feed, while the SA Country Women's Association was also offering household support.
“If there has been any surplus or donated hay, they’re the ones that are buying and distributing it, so it’s been hard to start up another program alongside theirs,” he said.
Mr Curtis said feed demand had quietened through the festive period but was ramping up again, particularly from drought-affected regions such as the southern Flinders, Robertstown/Eudunda and the Cowell/Cleve district.
The cost of grain is significant, so people will need to budget what will be economic for them.
- ANDREW CURTIS
“Most are managing, but there are some areas that have been caught out with conditions worse than was expected,” he said.
Mr Curtis said there was fodder available within the state, but it was not cheap.
“Similarly the cost of grain is significant, so people will need to budget what will be economic for them,” he said. “They may have to feed out until at least June.”
We have never destocked that much before, it will be hard to get those numbers back.
- JAMES SANDER
Eudunda sheep producer James Sander, who farms with wife Lesley-Anne and son Luke, normally crops 650 hectares, but said they did not even get the header out of the shed.
“Not only did we put in less crop this year because we didn’t get the rain, the crop then didn’t amount to anything,” he said.
They also cut their sheep numbers from 3000 to 1600.
“We have never destocked that much before, it will be hard to get those numbers back,” Mr Sander said.
“My son had to get work off-farm because we had no harvest and less sheep.”
The 61-year-old said in his farming career, he had never seen it this bad in the region.
“We had 192 millimetres for the year, but only 150mm for the growing season," he said. “Any feed that did amount in the paddock was taken out by wildlife.
Related reading: NSW drought subsidies blamed for soaring hay prices
“We are taking a risk trying keep what sheep we have left, but it’s our breeding stock, it would be very expensive to buy that back again.
“We have spent almost $140,000 on fodder in just over 12 months.”
Mr Sander said they were lucky to find agistment at Maitland and closer to home. They were also hay recipients of the Buy a Bale program in October.
“We had another guy at Maitland donate his straw to us, which I shared with local farmers,” Mr Sander said.
“We may be in a bad drought, but there is a lot of good that has come from it.
“The people you meet and those that are willing to help you out make you feel very fortunate.”
- Details: Any SA producer who has surplus feed or is in need of feed support can contact the register at admin@livestocksa.org.au or 08 8297 2299.
Alisha Fogden
Journalist at Australian Community Media newspapers since 2007.
Journalist at Australian Community Media newspapers since 2007.
