As stock feed and fodder supplies tighten along the eastern seaboard, one Parkes grain specialist has tapped into available reserves in Western Australia.
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Geoff Brown, Buckwheat Enterprises Pty Ltd, is now railing lupins and field peas to Parkes at $70 a tonne freight charge.
He did the same in 2006-07 when he brought across a lot of oats and oat hulls.
The freight is very cost-effective, according to Mr Brown, who moved his export business to the Parkes inland rail module area from Blayney 25 years ago.
“We were the first business in this inland port, but selling buckwheat as our first enterprise,” he said.
With wife, Julie, the Browns had grown buckwheat at Blayney before moving.
“It was actually cheaper to export containers from here at Parkes than it was from Blayney, but that has changed now.”
Meanwhile, cheaper rail freight from Western Australia is because trains returning from the west don’t have anywhere near the same freight as those heading west.
“It costs us about $300/t from Parkes to Perth, but obviously freight companies are looking for backloads,” Mr Brown said.
“I just received a price on a whole lot of 20 kilogram pallets of horse feed, all different types, so we are going to bring some of that over and we are also getting prices on hay.
“We can bring them over on 48 foot (14.6 metre) containers.”
Mr Brown said Linfox, next door, was using the longer containers, and also higher containers at just under 3m.
“They stack the longer containers on top of the normal 40 foot (12.19m) containers and rail them.”
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He said a lot of companies have set up in Perth and import from Europe.
“So they get products quick and can supply to all over Australia at probably a cheaper price than we can send a pallet from Parkes to Brisbane.
“That’s at about $150.
“You wouldn’t think distributing from Perth was viable, but it is.”
“They don’t have the domestic pressure on prices we have here in the east, so are well placed to supply lupins and field peas and hay.
“I heard there was not much barley in WA, as China had bought it to make beer.”
Mr Brown said this current drought was very scary.
“It was a different dry in 2006-07 and I can also remember the 1982 drought, but this time it just doesn’t seem to want to rain.
“As everybody is running out of stock feed and prices have been going up, I thought it was worth looking towards the west.
“And as rail freight is very economical it is worth entering the supply market here.”