Sell Hay Now

Our sales team do many forward contracts each year, but we do not speculate (take positions). We only ever offer a contract when we have a physical buyer. Our Web Marketing Service is the front gate of our forward contracts system. To access our long term forward contracts, simply list with Feed Central and we will contact you as an opportunity becomes available.

We firmly believe that hay is not a commodity where one price fits all. Therefore, we strongly encourage growers to set your own asking price based on your location, your bale weights (heavier bales decrease freight costs), your quality and your location. Our sales team are always flat out working with buyers, but rest assured they will call you once we have all the quality details of your hay (following the Q.A. process). In the meantime, our website shows a complete list of current hay available, and the prices being asked.

Due to water availability, there has been a long trend away from irrigated hay and a big trend towards winter cereal and vetch production. This means that most of the hay now gets made in a 60 day window (Oct-Nov). But livestock eat 365 days/year and it is common to have a feed gap in winter. The growers that we see do the best out of hay, play the long game.

What we know from 20 years’ experience is that we almost always run out of good quality hay in winter.

At the time of sale, we contact you and negotiate the finer details of the contract, including payment terms. Once a deal is struck, we are your buyer (your counter party); we are not an agent or a broker. Hence, legally we are financially responsible to pay you. We issue RCTIs and pay directly into your account when it is due. We manage our business closely; we manage our debtors even more closely; we don’t speculate on commodities; we have a good physical asset base with strong equity and we have the best available debtors’ insurance. All of this means that we have a 20 year perfect track record of paying our accounts 100% in full and on-time.

Accreditation is generally offered to growers and contractors who have shown strong commitment to the quality assurance and Feed Central and have modern hay making equipment (inc. large square bales), good storage facilities and a very professional approach.

We make no firm promises about how long you will need to wait for a Feed Central On-Farm Inspection. Normally (but not always), we wait until we have a volume of lots in each region to inspect. Historically, this has resulted in clients waiting between 2-8 weeks.

The price you set and agree to is the net amount, there are no deductions (unless there are statutory levies). We effectively add a buyer’s premium.

The integrity of our website is extremely important to us; buyers dislike seeing old outdated listings.

Our main expectation of you the grower is that you review your price and volume at least once per month. You can do this by calling us; talking to us; online or via our app. We also send you reminders via text and email.

Yes, and Feed Central’s Quality Certificate can help you do that. But, as stated above, we expect that you keep your price and volume up-to-date at all times. This includes informing us if there are price or volume changes for any reason.

No. We sell at least one load from about 80% of listings. Some hay sells between neighbours, some hay sells privately, and some is fed out on the farm where it is grown. Most growers enjoy the flexibility offered by this service. This said, there are many lots where we sell 100%.

The system is backed by people who are experts in their field. Many large buyers enjoy one-on-one account management, long term forward contracts and exclusive procurement relationships. However, you can still phone us to discuss any queries and we welcome your communication.

Feed Central runs an extremely efficient, safe and secure backend system. We collect your credit card details because it is the safest, fastest and most efficient way to be charged. If you cannot pay by credit card, a $20 charge will be added to all fees.

Yes, your credit card details are kept within a very secure NAB system and are unavailable to any Feed Central staff now or in the future.

In our system, the generation of Feed Test results triggers the QA charge. This is the final step in the process and is a once-off charge. There are no charges if you withdraw your lot prior to inspection.

There are many reasons, but the main reason is because we don’t expect exclusivity; you are free to sell elsewhere and our Quality Certificate (including Feed Test) will help you sell privately. That is why we think it is fair to charge (very competitive) fees for QA services.