Crop Protection Purchasing Considerations in the Lead Up to the End of Financial Year*
19 May 2022, CA: I get asked this question all the time, “When is the right time to buy?”
When the chemical is cheap, right? Now it’s not as simple as that
This type of buying behavior takes patience. Love knowing you got the best deal on the day. We all know that over time prices come back. What might be a good deal today, might not be a good deal in 2 months. Buying early has its downfalls, but if you follow a rule of buying when the product is historically a good price, then it doesn’t really matter. You’ll always come out in front. I have had many farmers thank me year on year for helping them save doing just this.
Buying out of season
Over the years I’ve worked with many farmers who follow this buying pattern.
You have to view chemicals (fertiliser and fuel also) like you do your grain. While most growers check pricing every day, I think you should be checking the price of your chemicals, too.
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I am not suggesting you do this for all of them, as I understand there are way too many for that. But I would absolutely keep an eye on the top 10. The savings over 1 shuttle of Propyzamide 500, or an MCPA 570, we can be talking between $2000 to $3000 a shuttle. For those who use multiples of one product, that adds up pretty quickly!
Well, that’s two products I have highlighted and ‘potential’ savings of $4000 if buying one of each. You see how quickly that adds up. $4000 is a nice little trip to the coast when you’re not sitting on the boom spray or chasing down some sheep on the road because your backpacker left the gate open.
It doesn’t matter what size farm you are, it doesn’t matter if you’re buying enviro’s (110L) or buying shuttles (1000L), the buying principles are the same. There are always savings to be had.
If you are ever unsure if a price is historically cheap, ask your local chemical rep. Whether it’s your mate in town or an FBN rep. These guys and gals study the form, they’ll know.
When we find some level of normality with chemical prices I think there is huge value in adopting this buying behavior. Every business is looking to shave $’s from their bottom line, I can assure you, this can help to do just that.
Getting the best deal on chem and fair market value
1. Use the tools available
Load your top 20 chemicals into your ‘favorites’ in your FBN profile. Doing this will ensure you will be able to see every price on one screen and will save you a lot of time. Your local FBN Account Executive or Community Builder can help you do this.
2. Do a ring around or send an email
| Product | Green | Red | Independent | FBN |
| Glyphosate 450 | $4.30 | $4.20 | $4.10 | $3.90 |
Doing the above on a line by line basis will ensure you have the best price on the day and you have just paid fair market value for your product.
3. Review the offer
The best price isn’t always the cheapest. There are always deals that may save you even more than just the price per liter. An example may be 0% finance. This is pretty good and to my knowledge, has never been seen in the industry before.
