[bobsledder69]

I have a malt barley situation with Viterra Yorkton. In Aug i called to get out of my contract bc it looked like we weren't going to get malt due to the crop deteriorating bc rain. At the time my price was higher so it shouldnt have been a problem. They flat out told me they would not let me buy out. After our crop was harvested they accepted half as malt and I had to buy out the other half. They wanted the half they accepted delivered asap. So I dried most before delivery and a week to two weeks after delivery, they now tell me they are not buying it as malt as the germ has fallen off. But I have already delivered it. Does anyone know if this is legal for them to do? The elevator receipts say metcalfe 1CW. Once its delivered, it should not be my problem. And to boot, the malt price has gone up even further and now they want me to buy out of the rest. Anyone know any lawyers that can help?

 

[wmoebis]

Assistant Commissioners at the CGC should be able to help.
Oh ya, sorry Ritz hasn't reappointed any.

 

[Dryland]

Malt business is tough. If the grain doesn't meet their quality standards -- not much you can do. CGC is toothless. I suggest you try and work with the person you talked to in August when it became apparent that you were unlikely to achieve Malt. I thought Viterra production contracts were worded like "you owe us all the barley off XXX acres. if it goes Malt -- you get $YYY price, otherwise you get spot feed price".

Your barley isn't going to turn from feed to malt. Your best option is probably to take a close look at your original contract and see exactly what the penalty is for not delivering malt. If you have to buy it out -- then try to negotiate the price to be that August price instead of this November price.

 

[Fixx]

I agree with dryland . you offer them the barly off of xx amount of acers . if it does not meet their standards you can do what you want with it . you are not obligated to find malt from some other source or to bring it to them . that is what I understand about a production contract. if you signed some other contract that obligates you to bring them malt you are ****** . don't sign contracts like that unless you have a weather clause or some way out if the crop doesn't make it . ive taken a royal ****ing over malt before thou when the cwb was in charge . send sample/accepted/haul to elevator/load on train/haul to port / check car again/rejected/ brly mixwd onto ship anyways/pay me for feed/

 

[kris]

Inform them that as soon as possible you will be sending trucks to haul your feed barley home as you don't have a feed barley contract with them and if they can't produce it than you know they kept it in the malt bin and are screwing you over and at that point while in the elevator you call RCMP and file all relevant charges against them. You will be surprised how fast your Malt cheque is printed. Remember that most likely it's about 25% chitted so that means 75 is still of high quality malt.

 

[philonthefarm]

agree with kris , asked for my canola and wheat dockage for the cows , nope you cant , why? its ours ?well dont charge me for it them go and deduct the weight too ,,

 

[lanwickum]

I hauled some to Columbia in Cut Bank just before harvest this year to clear out some bin space. They already tested my samples and approved it as malt. After they sent in the sample they said it was feed from bad germ. Tested again and it tested worse, their samples. Hauled the rest to CHS next door and it made malt. How can I prove anything? They stole it from me and got away with it. I get to deal with an elevator I have great experience with tomorrow. Put my load of highest pro, best wheat, in with the wrong sample. Cost me in a number ways from what I can see. Worst part is I walked in and talked to the manager just after he did the sample. I know they dumped in with their good wheat. I seen it on the monitor. Grrr.....

 

[alfred123]

We stopped growing malt for reasons just like this seems like they do whatever they want and you cant do much about it they can accept it as malt when feeds worth big money then it seemed they wouldn't take delivery until june and then ask for resamples and suddenly boom its feed and the price for feed has dropped big time by then so you get double screwed

 

[nicemustang]

I'm in similar situation. Had it contracted, was 97% when accepted. Hauled in to Saskatoon, lost 5% on truck apparently. Now have to take feed price plus .50 bushel penalty because it's come up in price since. They mixed it with others and loaded it on malt train destined for port...probably malt but my specs were not good enough. Total BS IMO opinion. Just was starting to like Viterra again, now I probably won't take them anything else this year. Since the board is gone, malt has been more politics than anything...

 

[Oliver 88]

No wonder the barley acres are decreasing.

 

[fjlip]

Just as rewarding in the Casinos, Malt is crap shoot. I will never again play. Let them grow their own and TAKE ALL the risk!

 

[Partners]

Same situation at Wadena Viterra..Bly seems to have lost its germ from farm bin to the elevator???

 

[wmoebis]

Is there any transparency on how much BLY is selected then rejected on delivery? Is this something the CGC should be taking a look at?

 

[bobsledder69]

Thanks everyone for your input. I am currently still dealing with the situation. Not much we can do in the end. Only thing the CGC suggested is to go get samples of the barley I hauled them, and send it to CGC to get germed. Either way, I can say there is a clear reason that Viterra is going broke. Hopefully sooner than later! I will keep you posted as to what I learn.

 

[saskfarm]

I wish you luck. I wouldn't get my hopes up too much though. CGC usually come up with worse results than the elevator.

 

[makar]

viterra is going broke? dont think so. wish you luck, gave up on malt years ago.

 

[V876]

Don`t know if you can still buy this stuff, this might be another use for grainfetty. They always tell me they bin everyone`s malt separate. With grainfetty in there you would know if you were getting your barley back or not if they reject it. If they don`t give yours back they better produce a check for malt.

 

[philonthefarm]

bobsledder , did u get my pm ?

 

[kevlar]

Sadly this is not new. Every grain company does this and has been as long as I can remember. The best thing to do is try dealing directly with the maltsters. It's sickening as **** but its hard to win, goodluck.

 

[bobsledder69]

viterra rolled the contract to 2015. So instead of paying a buyout, you can try to haul to them next yr. I bought out of half of my contract and will sadly have to haul to them next year. The yorkton wooden Viterra cant close fast enough. Thanks to everyone for the help. Hope someone learned something from this ha.