State of play

Extracted from the Farm Tender weekly Newsletter - Sign up and get the email every Wednesday morning before 5 am. www.farmtender.com.au

By Dwain Duxson

What a recipe we have. Rain, potential, excellent Crops, rain, Grass, good Grain prices, rain, wet Hay paddocks, uncertainty, opportunities in Sheep, magnificent Bull and Rams prices, high input costs, demand for Harvest Machinery items, rain and the potential for more rain.

The post-drought 2020 year was a bonza for Harvest and Hay Gear sales, and I am not sure if this year will top it for volumes of items sold, but it will top it for freneticism.

2020 was when we went into Covid and came out of a drought. Crops and pastures at this time of the year were similar, but the difference compared to 2022 is that Machinery was readily available then. Farmers wanted to make sure the Crop got off, and in the Bin, trading things like Chaser Bins, Tipper Trucks, Mother Bins, Field Bins, Headers, and Header Fronts was done in numbers.

Fast forward to 2022, and those items mentioned above, with the exception of Headers, are not coming onto the market like they were back then. So when any of the fore mentioned items arrive, they are snapped up.

Headers are an interesting subject. The under $100,000 market is red hot at the moment as Farmers, like the BOM are predicting a wet, stop-start Harvest where any window of opportunity needs to be taken advantage of. Many Farmers are looking to buy an extra Header or ever two because of the potential wet, but there are other looming issues.

Parts were an issue in 2021 and will be an issue this Harvest, the shortage of Header Tyres or Farmers looking to add duel wheels has seen demand pick up for Tyres and Rims. Farmers who use Contractors are hedging their bets, knowing a Contractor might get stuck somewhere for an extended period of time.

Bottlenecks are predicted at the Grain Storage facilities, so Farmers will have to store more Grain in the paddock or on Farm.

Our old mate and great friend, the 2388 is the gift that keeps on giving. They are reliable and sort after with many changing hands several times over the years. Case dealers back in the day must have sold this popular model in massive numbers, so much so that they should be classing them as a "commodity".

Most Rice Growers will have a 4WD Header and there is a bit of demand around for those right now.

We talked about Field Bin inflation in Monday's "daily" and how prices have risen over the last couple of months. And really, if you buy any Harvest items right now, you will be paying overs, with negotiations limited to Headers only.

We have a Header and Front Auction coming up on the 5th of October. Keep an eye out for that.

I see the Mallee areas of Vic and SA have had an inch of rain overnight, so that will make the Hay job interesting. The season is late in most areas, with the sun yet to pop out too much. That will happen, though. We are in for an interesting couple of months.

That's the state of play. Keep batting.

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