However, Southern Quality Produce (SQP) is offering a product that may make growers sit up and take notice, with premiums of up to $20 a tonne for wheat, $15/t for barley and $22/t for canola for deliveries to its pools as part of its Early Order Premium (EOP) program.

Importantly, the marketer has also included provisions for production failure, so farmers are not liable for massive wash-out costs.

SQP managing director Ben Fleay said there were tailored maximum cancellation fees of between $15-20/t to allow farmers to manage production risk.

He said the EOP program was designed to give growers access to an innovative product.

“We are at the forefront of grain pool innovation, and year after year tailor our EOP program to meet our grower customers’ specific needs, with the aim of delivering optimum returns and minimised risk,” he said.

“Once again, we are offering a limited exclusive offer to our grower customers who delivered to us last year through the 2009/10 EOP.

“We expect to be oversubscribed again this year, so we are encouraging growers to sign up early.”

The first round of EOP subscriptions closes on March 19.

Mr Fleay said he was pleased with SQP’s pool returns in 2009-10, pointing out the difference in performance between the SQP pools and selling at harvest.

“There was a significant advantage in participating in our pools, as opposed to selling for cash at harvest.”

Another innovation used by SQP to attract tonnage is the chance to lock in a minimum guaranteed pool return should growers wish to limit their exposure to further downside in the market.

Anyone who takes the contract this month will be able to use all or part of their EOP to set themselves a minimum price, working along the principles of a put option.

“The current market conditions are probably unattractive to growers locking in a guaranteed minimum return price at the price levels on offer at the moment, but we’ll review it again in April,” Mr Fleay said.