Southern Ag Grain’s West Wyalong office is now officially open for business after a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Member for Riverina Michael McCormack MP today.
Local grain growers, local government and local businesses braved the wet weather to welcome the grain marketer to their new office on West Wyalong’s Main Street.
Southern Ag Grain General Manager Chris Kochanski said while other grain marketers were winding back their local presence, Southern Ag Grain was putting more people on the ground.
“The new office is ideally located to give Central West growers more choice in their grain marketing.
“With the evolving international grain market and the range of marketing options available, it’s important to be able to sit down with growers and deliver a more personal service,” Mr Kochanski said.
He said the season was shaping up well in the Central West region with encouraging rainfall to date.
“Growers we’ve spoken to today are fairly optimistic.
“Even though international grain prices are predicted to soften, the lower Aussie dollar is taking a bit of pressure off.”
He said much of the wheat, barley and canola grown in the area would be destined for a range of domestic markets as well as international destinations such as Indonesia, China and the Middle East.
“China has emerged as a major force on the world grain market. It has gone from being a net exporter to a net importer of grain in a matter of years. This presents excellent opportunities for Central West growers.
“A tonne of high-protein wheat produced in the Central West could mean 20,000 bowls of noodles in Beijing.”
Southern Ag Grain is a joint venture partnership between grower-operated Southern Agventure and national grain marketing, storage and handling group Emerald Grain.
“Our team has the local know-how due to its links with Southern Agventure, but can reach international markets leveraging off Emerald Grain’s end-to-end supply chain. This gives us the flexibility to tailor marketing strategies to meet individual grower needs and make the most of what we’re seeing out there in the paddock,” Mr Kochanski said.
He encouraged growers to call Grain Merchant Luke Kirkby at the new Southern Ag Grain office on 02 6972 0066 or to simply drop in and say hello.
