11/04/2011

More buyback contracts for Tuxedo Group 3 wheat have been announced over the last month by grain traders, as Nidera’s announcement follows news of Frontier, Gleadell and Dalmark’s buyback schemes. Today (11^th April) international grain trader Nidera announced a harvest 2012 buy-back contract for Tuxedo for supply into the UK as well as important export markets. This is the fourth contract announcement for the variety in as many weeks, which, Cambridge-based RAGT's Managing Director Simon Howell said, shows the strong demand specifically for Tuxedo but also for good British nabim and uks Group 3 wheats.

Russell Frost from Nidera said “We have no doubt about Tuxedo’s export potential, as well as its suitability for our domestic milling customers. With a Group 3 specification that is far from onerous, our 2012 contract is designed to deliver substantial volumes of the sort of UK grain we know our markets want. We are encouraging growers to produce it rather than continuing to only focus on less immediately marketable hard feed wheats.”

Dalmark announces buyback contracts for 2011 harvest

On 18^th March Dalmark Grain announced buy-back contracts for Tuxedo, which are now available for the 2011 harvest through the company. According to Chris Tye, Dalmark's Farm Business Manager, the premium contracts were offered to secure sufficient biscuit wheat for UK food manufacturers, with a small amount for export.

"There is a strong demand in the eastern region for Group 3s for the biscuit baking market. So we have premium contracts available for wheat that meets the millers' quality specifications. We have contracts for all nabim Group 3 recommended varieties, including both Tuxedo and Warrior," Tye said.

The contracts available from Dalmark are based on a tonnage commitment from the grower for a named variety. Pricing includes a premium to compensate growers for the yield differences associated with the Group 3s compared with the "barn filling feed varieties". The contracts are fixed on tonnage but flexible on quality should a grower's consignment not reach the protein and Hagberg Falling Number (HFN) specification of the millers. Tuxedo fits the exacting UK milling standards and has the highest HFN of the Group 3s. It also has a 'medium' rating for the distilling market and has the uks standard for export.

Gleadell announce contracts for Tuxedo

On 28^th March Gleadell Agriculture also announced a buy-back contract for Tuxedo, reflecting the strong demand from their customers which include food giant Premier Foods.

Marc Rogerson, a Gleadell Trading Manager and responsible for quality wheat, predicted a long term commitment from both UK millers and export markets for British Group 3s which they say should give growers the resounding assurance they need to plant more of them. Gleadell said, "The premium we are offering for Tuxedo of the right quality far and away exceeds the £2-3 per tonne biscuit premium offered by some merchants in 2010."

The Tuxedo supplied to contract for UK millers will need to meet the quality specifications of 10.7% for protein, 74kg/l specific weight and an Hagberg Falling Number (HFN) of 180. For the export milling market, specs are 10.5% for protein, 75kg/l specific weight and an HFN of 230. Mr Rogerson added reassurance to growers unable to meet contract specifications that Gleadell would still take the tonnage but sell it into quality markets that still reflect a premium to feed wheat.

All of the grain merchants offering buy back contracts agree that millers' demand for Group 3s reflect the marked undersupply of this internationally important wheat. David Sheppard, Gleadell's Managing Director, suggested that the demand from UK millers is between 1.5-2 million tonnes/year whilst the international requirement for Italy, Spain and Portugal totals an additional 1 - 2 million tonnes/year.

While Dalmrk’s Chris Tye commented on the supply and demand situation in the UK, stating that, "There is a definite shortage of Group 3s in this country and millers want to ensure domestic supply. AHDB using NIAB data predicts that 16% of the certified seed sales for 2011 harvest year will be Group 3s, whilst up on 2009/10 (11%), this is significantly down on the 46% of seed sales in 2006, 37% in 2007 and 27% in 2008."

For more details about the Gleadell's Tuxedo buy-back contract, growers should contact Chris Guest, Gleadell’s Seed Manager on 01427 421279 or via email to chris.guest@gleadell.co.uk or to discuss the Tuxedo and other Group 3 buy-back contracts from Dalmark growers can contact contact Chris Tye on 01733 222391