Our range of flexible marketing
tools can help you manage risk
Grain
There are many ways to manage grain market risk and what suits one business may not be right for another. This is why we have developed a comprehensive suite of risk-management products that help you to achieve impressive results without exposing your business to an unnecessary level of risk.
| hiderow | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| titlerow | Product name | Tracker (PD) | Pool (PC) | Producers Direct (PD) | Traded (PX) |
| Function | A product that tracks the market, every day, over a time period of your choice, and averages out the price over that period. You can close your Tracker price at any given time during the Tracker period. | Openfield market grain on your behalf. This product offers access to a range of different risk management tools and strategies. | A contract that gives you the freedom to discuss and define with Openfield the best strategy to market your produce. It covers all commodities for a given month for an agreed price. | A Traded contract enables you to sell to Openfield at the market price on any given day for any month. | |
| Commodities | Wheat and Oilseed Rape | Wheat, Barley, Beans, Oilseed Rape and Oats | All commodities | All commodities | |
| Shareholder | Yes – you will hold a £1 share in Openfield Group Limited. This £1 one-off cost will be deducted from an early payment to you. | No | |||
| Benefits | • A dedicated team working on your behalf to ensure the correct marketing decision is made • Advanced payments are available at an excellent rate (conditions apply) • Complimentary Moisture Meter Calibration • Credit Insurance included • A dedicated weekly market commentary • Access to Insight (our online customer portal) | • A dedicated team working with you to help you make the right decision • Access to Openview: our weekly market report |
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| Deadlines and Terms | • Simply return your completed Commitment Form by 31st March • Return your Final Tonnage Form (FTF) by 30th September • Sign the Openfield Terms and Conditions (which can be found on the reverse of the Commitment Form) | • All contracts will be conducted under the terms of the relevant AIC or FOSFA contracts for each commodity | |||
| Marketing Arrangement | Openfield is the agent for your grain | You sell the grain to Openfield | |||
| Risk | Very Low | Low | Medium | High | |
| Product Type | Committed | Committed | Committed | Traded | |
Download a Grain Marketing Guide 2023/24 Download a Grain Marketing Guide 2024/25 Download a Combinable Crops Passport (Openfield) Download a Combinable Crops Passport (Velcourt)
Trading (PX)
Trade when you want and as you want, by linking into our diverse range of market outlets.
Openfield is committed to offering a highly-competitive ex-farm pricing service. Growers benefit from the scale and diversity of the market outlets that we service. This ensures that individuals maximise the inherent value of their grain in the current market conditions.
Benefits:
- Flexible pricing to suit you
- Advice available to help decide when to sell.
All contracts will be conducted under the terms of the relevant AIC or FOSFA contracts for each commodity.
Please see our ‘Say Hello Page’ to find closest Farm Business Manager to your area, or give us a call on 01476 862730.
Pool (PC)
“Managing risks and volatility by optimising returns through prudent and professional marketing”
By committing grain into Openfield’s Pool Marketing schemes, growers provide us with a known quality of grain with set movement patterns to take to the market. As a result, we can build upon our relationships and our strength to access markets, collecting premiums based on the quality and location of your grain.
Often used as part of a wider risk management strategy, the Openfield Pool gives growers the freedom to market the remainder of their crop as they choose with the reassurance that a proportion of their risk is being managed on their behalf. Crops are marketed centrally and usually secure above average prices. These are achieved through the negotiation of long term supply agreements, based on sound market information. The Pool Marketing schemes offer a structured payment scheme which can reduce cash flow issues, and bad debt insurance cover ensures that payments are secure.
Signing up couldn’t be easier. Simply contact your local Farm Business Manager or our Communications Team and ask for a copy of our Grain Marketing Guide. Then agree the crops, quantities and varieties involved, select your preferred movement period, and leave the rest to us.
Benefits:
- Commodities are grouped and marketed together
- Marketed by a team of experts
- Set movement periods
- Advance payments available
- Free Moisture Meter calibration
- Credit insurance
- Exclusive market information.
Tracker (PD)
By selling a proportion of committed grain every day over an agreed period, our prices track the highs and lows of the market. Growers can decide to accept an ‘average’ price or decide to sell more grain when a pre-set price is triggered. This product is only available for oilseed rape and wheat.
The Tracker package allows the grower to manage their commitment over the life of the tracked period. This management of risk in a volatile market gives protection against rapid price erosion. Each Tracker is exclusive to the grower, who chooses their start date and can elect to close it out at any time. There’s no set-up cost and the Tracker is an especially useful tool for setting a base price for milling wheat, with premiums payable where appropriate.
Benefits:
- Tracks the market day by day
- Gives a true market average
- You set the marketing period
- Advance payments available
- Free Moisture Meter calibration
- Exclusive market information.
Example of Tracker performance
Example A
- If the price were to fall by £1/day, over the 100 days, falling from £200 to £100/tonne, then the average price would be £150/tonne (assuming you let the tracker run its full term). This futures value is then converted to an ex-farm parity appropriate to your region.
Example B
If, halfway through the marketing period, you decide to close out the tracker (perhaps because you believe the market has reached its peak), half the committed tonnage (150 tonnes) would be priced at an average of £175/tonne and the remaining (150 tonnes) will be sold at the market price of £150/tonne. This would give you an average price of £162.50/tonne. This futures value is then converted to an ex-farm parity appropriate to your region.
Specialist contracts
Openfield have a number of closed-loop marketing agreements with a wide range of British food and drink manufacturers. These guarantee the supply of a specific quantity of grain, of agreed specification and at an agreed price. They also allow the grower to lock into minimum contract prices (to cover production costs for example) whilst benefiting from any subsequent rise in market prices.
Increasingly, these include the growing of certified seed for our own exclusive end user contracts, maintaining tight traceability and an effective audit trail right through the grain chain. Longer term supply contracts are also available for certain commodities for those growers who want to benefit from price stability over a number of years.
Benefits:
- Can choose to market from Pool, Tracker and Producers Direct options
- Guarantees premiums on quality crops
- Matches farmer with end users, therefore securing supply
- Advance payments available
- Free Moisture Meter calibration.
Advance Payments
Advance Payments are a unique payment scheme offered by us to help with your everyday cash flow and budgeting. You can have Advance Payments or Regular Payments and they can be used in conjunction with any committed product, so you can take an Advance Payment against your fertiliser and input purchase from us.
We calculate the amount that you can borrow based on your committed tonnage in that particular crop year, and how much this tonnage will generate. This is known as ‘The Crop Fund’. Interest charges are calculated as a percentage over the Bank of England base rate – the exact percentage is subject to market conditions.
Advance payments are made available as follows:
| How much of my Fund is available? | When? | Conditions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50% | From 1st August | Receipt of Commitment Form | |
| 65% | From 3rd October | Either receipt of Final Tonnage Form (FTF) or sampling has taken place. No further Advance Payments will be made until we receive your FTF. |
|
| 80% | Following processing of Central Store intake or collection of grain from farm. |
Openfield Proficiency Testing Scheme (OPTS)
The Openfield Proficiency Testing Scheme is a TASCC recognised ring check scheme for testing facilities involved in the analysis of combinable crops.
It was started in 2003 with 12 members and now has over 100 testing facilities participating.
The commodities available are as follows:
| hiderow | ||
|---|---|---|
| Wheat | Moisture, specific weight, screenings, admixture, protein, hagberg. (2 samples per month July through to June) |
|
| Barley | Moisture, specific weight, screenings, admixture, nitrogen, germination, skinned, splits and broken. (2 samples per month July through to June) |
|
| Oats | Moisture, specific weight, screenings, admixture. (1 sample per month August through to February of the following year and April) |
|
| Oilseed Rape | Moisture, admixture, oil, burnt, rancid, chitted and immature. (2 samples per month July, August, September and February (Plus other months if deemed necessary) |
|
| Peas | Moisture, admixture, colour (1 sample per month September through to January of the following year, and March and May) |
|
| Beans | Moisture, admixture, bruchid and stains (1 sample per month September through to January, March and May) |
Each month the participating facility enters their results onto the dedicated online portal. Once the deadline for results has closed the scheme administrator issues a full report showing all participants z-scores, an individual facility report and a z-score trend report for that facility.
These reports are then used by the facility to monitor how they are testing compared to the reference methods and the other participating facilities.
For further information and prices please get in touch with richard.denton@openfield.co.uk
Logistics
Our aim is to deliver the most efficient supply chain in the industry. With our Operations team, organised into Product Planners, Farm Service Coordinators, Customer Service Coordinators, and Transport Service Coordinators, our objective is to optimise costs and service from farm gate to end-user. We have seen reductions in both farm and mill turnaround times, and significant service improvements at mills.
We manage a dedicated fleet of 36 Openfield vehicles operating from strategic sites around the country. In anticipation of a busy harvest, we have an additional 20 vehicles on-hand to support our sub-contracted hauliers.
Hauliers form an integral part of the supply chain, and we recognise the crucial role that every external haulier plays in the process. We seek collaborative, open engagements with them and aim to develop long term relationships based on trust, credibility and delivery. In short: we strive for the mutual success of all involved.
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