Pools pay off for arable farmers, say merchants

Arable farmers who committed feed wheat into merchants' pools this harvest received up to £119/t for their grain, a better price than many who sold wheat off the combine this harvest.

While futures prices soared this summer, wet weather caused severe quality problems for many growers and meant that the few farmers who had not sold significant tonnages forward struggled to catch the market's highs.

Co-operative Centaur Grain achieved an average price for feed wheat of £118.16/t in its harvest pool, plus a £4/t premium for soft wheats.

"This demonstrates that pool marketing has been proven against the market's performance."