A RIVERINA grain grower is not convinced Australia needs to import wheat from overseas to make up for what has been described as a shortfall.
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Bob McCormack of Winchendon Vale says the combination of tough seasonal conditions and the fact wheat was coming in from overseas countries, that were subsidised to grow the crop, was creating the 'perfect storm' to ruin good prices.
Mr McCormack, "Lenton Park," runs sheep and cattle, grows winter crops and fodder and like many other producers in this region he confesses to spending too much time on the spray cart.
The pressure from weeds has been tough this season and in addition to market woes he is concerned that the door has been left wide open for more bio-security risks given the fact ships carrying wheat from overseas have arrived at Wollongong.
He said a better scenario would be to let supply and demand play out and allow farmers, who had managed to grow wheat that meets the market specifications, to cash in on high prices due to lower stocks.
Earlier this year Manildra group managing director John Honan, said imported Canadian high-protein wheat was required to safeguard the future of the company's Nowra gluten and starch manufacturing plant.
In a letter to farmers Mr Honan, whose company was issued a permit to bring in wheat from Canada, said there would be an ongoing requirement for imported wheat to be used at the Nowra facility until at least the end of the year.
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He said the import permit had only been sought because of the east coast drought.
However, Mr McCormack disagrees with the sentiments saying Australia does produce enough wheat.
But he concedes getting an inventory of exactly how much is being stored on farm was not an easy task and it was important to look at the whole picture including the production in Western Australia and not just the eastern states.
He said grain growers were effectively being slapped with a price cap and the market would not play out in the same way as current record prime lamb values which were driven by supply and demand.
Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) currently has national wheat production at 21.2 million tonnes, an increase from last year's 17.1m tonnes, and below the 30-year average of 25m tonnes.
