HAY BUYERS desperate to source supplies to keep their livestock going through the drought are being urged to remember any purchases are made on a ‘buyer beware’ basis.
While the national hay and fodder peak body, the Australian Fodder Industry Association (AFIA) said it had received no complaints regarding predatory behaviour resulting from the current panic market, reports have emerged of some unscrupulous sellers taking advantage of vulnerable buyers.
Steve Tolmie, of Sandy River Bison near Dubbo, said he had purchased hay from southern NSW and had been disgusted with what arrived.
“I’m only a fairly small player, but I bought a B-Double load of barley hay at $235 a tonne, which is a big purchase for us, that the vendor had assured me was of good quality,” Mr Tolmie said.
“The seller was insistent on cash before the truck was loaded and then when we received the hay we found we could not use 11 of the 56 bales and we haven’t been able to reach them since.
“It really was dreadful quality, I had to burn those 11 bales which were full of mould and then try and do what we could with the rest.
”Someone with the facilities may be able to get more out of it by putting it through a hammer mill but it was just so disappointing to see people taking advantage of the drought, especially when the majority of people are so good.”
AFIA chief executive John McKew said buyers should be careful before making purchases as safeguards such as access to arbitration, which is available in grain sale contracts, is not a part of hay contracts.
“It is definitely a case of caveat emptor (buyer beware) in the hay and fodder industry,” Mr McKew said.
Mr Tolmie said normally he would be careful when dealing with a new seller, but said in the current environment it was difficult.
“There is that little hay around, if I don’t commit to buying it straight away then a few hours later it is gone,” he said.
Mr McKew sympathized with hay buyers’ position at present in terms of accessing supplies but said it highlighted the benefits of having capacity to store fodder.
“The current transformation of the hay market has been incredible.
“Just a few months ago you could have got whatever you wanted and named your price, hay producers thought they had product that would never sell, it has turned around so quickly.”
In general, the fodder industry is reporting that Mr Tolmie’s predicament is the exception rather than the rule.
“I’ve really only heard positive things about the sellers,” Mr McKew said.
“Yes, people are selling some old and weather damaged hay but they are being open and upfront about the quality and they are finding people just want it, no matter how damaged it is.”
“The pricing reflects the damage, we are not hearing complaints of price gouging either, there is still a big discount for the poorer hay.”
Andrew Weidemann, Grain Producers Australia (GPA) chairman and a hay producer from Rupanyup in Victoria, said most hay sellers he had spoken to had been sympathetic to buyers.
He agreed with Mr McKew that the current situation highlighted the benefit of being prepared and having solid reserves.
“There’s this panic market here at present but it isn’t that long ago that hay was at record low prices.”
Mr McKew said a full hay shed was a sound insurance policy.
“Hay is a tax deductible asset and stored well it will last for years.”
In terms of cutting out disputes between buyers and sellers Mr McKew said there had been some preliminary work on developing hay trading standards.
However, he said it was not a simple process.
“Hay is not a homogenous product and there is a lot more variation there than you will find in grain which creates issues with things like quality assurance within the testing standards.”
“It is something I am confident we will be able to do but it will take time.”