My apology if I am in a wrong section, I am new in this site.
I have been doing various research on exporting Canadian pulses. I am working on licenses and other paper works. But with the current prices my budget would be enough for about 100 tonnes of these crops for the first order.
I am trying to connect with some farmers around Canada to see if they are willing to a small company like mine. I live in Vancouver myself but any idea how I can find list of some farmers around Canada? I am even willing to go meet with them in person.
I am inexperienced in this field and I would really appreciate it if you guys could give me some direction on how to connect with farmers.
Also if there is any broker here who can help please don't hesitate to message me in order to work together.
Not wanting to be the bearer of bad news but I have a feeling you won't be buying much unless your bonded. Even then to be a new buyer from way way out of the area looking for small amounts without the facilities to take delivery of your purchase,no one will be wanting to do business. Just my gut feeling but I have not done the research that you have,!!!!!!
I am not sure who is even bonded anymore? I think since the removal of the CWB, very few are bonded. This needs to be researched very carefully. I know a local colony dealing with SWT has taken on 3rd party insurance to cover their transactions with this company.
We as farmers are trusting too much and we fail to investigate if a company actually is carrying enough bond for their transactions or they are answering yes to the rhetorical question. Has anyone done any research on this? We were dealing with a company who was not bonded and acquiring insurance for our transaction. We were told that we are to be aware of this situation. Maybe it was just a a scare tactic - but maybe it is true!
Its very easy to capture farmers interests. There are 5 things that we look at. Time of delivery, Grading, Time of payment, Security of payment, and payment amount.
I would suggest you start out by offering 10% higher than the highest bid you have seen and pay in advance for the first truck load. Word will spread like a prairie wild fire. Screw a farmer out of some money and you will find yourself holding out a cup on Robson street.
Good Luck.
I'd contact various elevators, they will either have pulse crops or could point you to another buyer that deals with the farmers. You are likely not going to be dealing directly with the farmer unless you have a point of delivery set up for farmers. At the point of delivery you will have storage (grain bins), cleaning/washing equipment, and if possible next to the railway.
The main purpose is to fill the containers and export/ship them right away. So I don't think I would be needing a storage in Canada if we can load the containers in the farms. Am I right?
Just to be clear by bonded you guys mean having the CGC license in order to purchase the crop before hand?
Also another question. Do I still need a CGC license for export if I pay cash in advanced to the farmers? @morb1lee: The thing is I am trying to cut the elevators. I want to purchase these crops as cheap as possbile. @tripleoO : for the begining I am looking to buy Lentile. My buyers are in middle east and I wont have any problem selling it there once I ship them overseas. @skgrain : Yeah thats what I had in mind if I can find the right farmer.
I think your cost structure is going to be different then you envision. Pulse crops need to be cleaned, washed, & graded. This is a large cost for individual farms to take on and will charge extra for this...at that point your better off dealing with the cleaners/elevators because the economies of scale. Very few farms have this capability and those that do sell direct/whole sale to get the premium (eliminating you).
Let's say you happen to find a farmer and buyer willing to take uncleaned crops. You have no control over what they ship out... I know for fact you will get people that will send out sub quality product. If you pay by the pound, bushel, or hundred weight they have zero reason to maintain clean loads. You'll be paying freight on dockage material and encourage harvest at higher moisture levels. Then when the customer receives it and rejects it, what next? The farmer isn't going to take it back. If they did you are out round trip freight. If you fill your contracts w farmers full of contingent items, few will play ball (enough risk is taken by farmers). Quality control is going to be your biggest issue imo. Finding farmers and buyers is the easy part, been there done that. You are far from the first to try this approach. There is a reason why adm buys from elevators and netsle/hurshey buys from processors. Best of luck.
Try contacting Farmlink in Alberta, office in Lethbridge, they will point you in the right direction and may be able to get you started. They operate in Sask and Manitoba as well.
First of all triplo, I think you might be the same guy as original poster. Second to load containers you will need to clean and bag it, very few farms will have this ability.
I clean grain for seed ,so i think i could do it to sell,loading containers with auger is no big deal,you'd be suprised how empty a 40' container is with 25t in it !
I'm not the poster,but if there's a chance to up sell my grain it's worth looking at ,instead of taking it to the usual suspects with their helping of tookage,and there no angles when it comes to admix and blending !!
Actually you can ship loaded containers in bulk... If you can tip the container up, and plastic line it you're good to go... Urea gets imported that way also.
Cleaning should be done on the originating end because that way you don't ship dockage, but there's nothing stopping you from cleaning it on the other end provided the country you import into doesn't have any of our weeds listed as prohibited materials.
You don't need to be licensed to buy grain... Point in case a bunch of mills and processors that aren't and still operate.... Some farmers would see an opportunity on a deal like this but would have to be more along the lines of a partnership... What are you prepared to offer in exchange for a farmer offering end-user grade grain?
There is bulk pulses shipped in containers all the time. Also, they are being loaded directly on farms. Take a conveyor, remove spout, and shoot it in there. You only out about 1000 bu in one.
So do you guys believe that it would be more cost effective to purchase from elevators if I dont have the facility to clean and wash?
Couple other question:
- What is the best way to obtain the market price for pulses. Like is there a reference to look at and bid higher or lower? I know there is some daily prices on each provinces associations website, are they going to be useful?
- when I bid higher or lower from that reference price what factors should I look at?
- Other question that is confusing me is that what is the difference between having a CGC dealer license or not having it ( for export mainly)? its only that I will be bonded?
Find out what you can get delivered to where every you are selling, deduct whatever the freight will cost you back to farm yard, and figure out how much you want make! And don't forget exchange. Pretty simple stuff, I am guessing you might get a few expensive lessons unless you know more than you are leading on. What do expect to make per pound brokering say lentils this way?
Nima you said: "I want to purchase these crops as cheap as possbile."
Not sure this is what farmers are looking for when they go to sell their produce. Your going to have to have something to offer in return for smaller price.
@wmoebis
Yes, I guess by that I meant that Im trying to get the best price possible. Like I am trying to work harder to myself to source the grains rather than ordering it from a well known dealer. who can basically do everything for me and I just receive it in the destination I want. My apology for the bad wording.
However what can I possibly offer the farmer to get grains for smaller price? @bjtjjl : Thank you for your tip. I will be calculating those once I get how the cost of grains work. what to bid and how to bid. And I am still on research stage. Definitely wont proceed with spending my budget with what I know right now. @kevlar: absolutely
DO NOT USE C.B Constantini...they are the absolute WORST in the industry.... Expect at least a month to get paid and if there is any discrepencys on quality they WILL NOT go to bat for you.
Where are you wanting to export to? I met a gentleman last fall in Calgary who is looking into buying lentils and exporting them to his home state in India. So far he's still in the research phase also. He is a real entrepreneurial type of person He said there is a real market in India for top-quality Canadian lentils, especially selling directly a growing segment of the population who want high quality but have a hard time finding it in the local markets. He's selling Volvo trucks at the moment, and is a heavy truck mechanic, but has had a lot of experience in business and insurance. Anyway maybe he'd be someone to join forces with, depending on where you want to export to. I can find his contact information. 100 tonnes wouldn't be too hard to buy. That's just a few containers. Probably would need to clean them and bag them in mini bulks. If going to India there have been requirements like fumigation.
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