October 2017

I had expected to get all the way through September with the prices we started the season with however with sales up by more than 25% we have had to use free market priced grain from mid-September. And with barley and wheat now costing us on average $55 per tonne above budget I decided to bring the price review forward and make the new price effective for all deliveries after September 23rd.

Our new prices are:

Calf Meal prices effective from Sep 23rd 2017

High Octane Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $690 + GST ex Feedmill (+$34 per tonne)
Low Protein Aoraki Calf Meal 40 x 25kg: $664 + GST ex Feedmill (+$40 per tonne)

I have managed to buy extra soy meal and peas at budgeted prices which has helped to limit the price increase. The reason the Low Protein has risen by an extra $6 per tonne compared to the High Octane is because it has higher grain content.

Ordering

In the last 10 days I have started to tighten up on the ordering process for the meal. My preferred method for receiving orders is by text, and I thank all of you who continue to do this. Often I am doing a number of tasks at once (never a good idea however it’s just the ways things are) and receiving orders by text reduces the error rate as it allows me to check the orders again when I get back to the office. Some customers have also been ordering through the freight companies and I have now requested them to accept no more orders as this can make things complicated when the heat comes on. When texting please ensure you text to 027 299 3484 as the 0800 number does not receive texts.

Sales up

Sales are up by more than 25% and we are in uncharted territory as far as sales/ production goes. For example late on the Thursday before South Canterbury Anniversary weekend we had 45 tonne in stock however by mid-morning the following Tuesday we were over 100 tonne behind in orders. This led us to having to cut some customer orders back for a few days to enable us to catch up. Peak season for us is usually the last week of October and first couple of weeks in November and it will be challenging for us to meet demand. If we end up with customers having to wait for orders then these orders will be filled based on when the order is received. Again receiving the orders by text will make this easier. It will also be challenging for the freight companies to keep up with the deliveries at the peak of the season. The key message is - delays in delivery can be expected so please order early and be as helpful as you can in being ready to unload the meal when the truck arrives.

We had the storage shed nearly full last Wednesday before a convoy turned up and cleaned us out and these weren’t the only trucks for the day. We didn’t anticipate being so busy and you can be assured we will certainly work bloody hard at trying to meet demand.

Pallets

Our stockpile of good pallets is already very low and we are starting to use some tractor unfriendly pallets. For logistical reasons we don’t charge for the pallets however we do rely on you to send them back plus any others you have that you think maybe suitable.

We are after some empty 2.5kg Virkon containers if you can help us with this it will be greatly appreciated and I’m sure we can find a way to say thank you.

One of the main reasons for my no show last autumn was I that spent a significant amount of time building mountain bike trails. The aim was to have these trails ready for the inaugural Whitehorse Big Easy event which was on April 10th. This fundraising event was run by the Waimate Rotary Club in conjunction with Whitehorse MTB Riders Inc. The making of the trails is not a fast process, first I have to cut my way through gorse measuring the gradient as I go, while looking for a suitable site for a switchback. Often the switchback site ends up either above or below the desired gradient line so then its matter of going back through the same section adjusting the gradient to line up with the switchback, I then go through the same section for a third time looking for natural features in the landscape that would be nice to include in the trail. The trail must be blazed and marked enough so the digger operator can always see the next mark. It is hard and physical work often on steep slopes though it is relatively stress free and rewarding. To actually build the trail we were using a 5 tonne digger and I needed to make the most of my two operators while they were available, Daniel my youngest son (off to Lincoln next year) and Colin my 80 year old father in law who talks of retiring. Unfortunately 3 days before the event a cyclone occurred and after 80mm of rain the new trails were unusable which was quite gut-wrenching however they should be okay for next year’s event.