Friday, 30 August 2024 13:54

Co-op offers fixed price N pilot

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Ballance says the offering is the first of its kind and will offer shareholders more certainty on their input costs. Ballance says the offering is the first of its kind and will offer shareholders more certainty on their input costs.

Ballance Agri-Nutrients is offering fixed price nitrogen to farmer shareholders from September.

The co-operative says the offering is the first of its kind and will offer shareholders more certainty on their input costs.

In its initial market pilot phase, Ballance shareholders will be able to take advantage of the fixed price per tonne on both Nrich Urea or SustaiN, for a six-month contract period, with a minimum contract volume of 30 tonnes and a maximum contract volume of 500 tonnes.

“We’ve been listening to our shareholders who have been asking for more certainty when it comes to purchasing their urea,” says Jason Minkhorst, general manager customer at Ballance.

“We want to offer our shareholders greater stability and confidence around their input costs and make it as easy as possible for them to plan ahead,” he says.

By offering its shareholders a fixed price, Ballance can better support its supply chain planning and ensure its shareholders have a reliable onshore supply of urea.

“As a globally traded commodity, the fluctuating price of fertiliser creates high risk for farmers, so leveraging a fixed price on some or all of their fertiliser gives them peace of mind,” says Minkhorst.

A limited volume of fertiliser will be available as part of the initial Fixed Price N market pilot, and shareholders wanting to take advantage of it will need to apply via the Ballance website. 

Shareholders that are successful in their application for Fixed Price N will benefit from any downward price movements for the volume that hasn’t been fixed, however they will need to use their full contracted volume first.

“We acknowledge that Fixed Price N won’t work for all our shareholders, but we know that providing more options overall is important,” explains Minkhorst.

“Launching Fixed Price N demonstrates that we are listening to our shareholders and is the first of several product and service innovations we will be announcing in the coming months.”

Applications open in early September and shareholders can apply at http://ballance.co.nz/fixed-price-nitrogen

More like this

Foliar feeding 'lifts N efficiency'

Research findings published in Europe support the concept of foliar fertilisation or foliar feeding in improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) while maintaining pasture productivity.

SustaiN lands NZ registration

Ballance Agri-Nutrients fertiliser SustaiN – which contains a urease inhibitor that reduces the amount of ammonia released to the air – has now been registered by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI). It is the first fertiliser in New Zealand to achieve this status.

Featured

Farmer input needed to combat FE

Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is calling on livestock farmers to take part in a survey measuring the financial impact of facial eczema (FE).

Editorial: Escaping Trump's wrath

OPINION: President Donald Trump's bizarre hard line approach to the world of what was once 'rules-based trade' has got New Zealand government officials, politicians and exporters on tenterhooks.

Wool pellets to boost gardens

With wool prices steadily declining and shearing costs on the rise, a Waikato couple began looking for a solution for wool from their 80ha farm.

National

Machinery & Products

Alpego eyes electric power harrow

Distributed by OriginAg in New Zealand, Italian manufacturer Alpego recently showed its three metre Alysium electric power harrow at the…

New seed drill tech coming

Incorporating Vaderstad's latest seed drill technology, the Proceed V 24, is said to improve precision and increase planting efficiencies for…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Waffle man

OPINION: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon sometimes can't escape his own corporate instinct for evasion, and in what should have been…

Banks on notice

OPINION: Shane 'Matua' Jones, crusader against all things woke, including "woke banks", couldn't have scripted it better when his NZ…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter