West Australian company Hay Australia moves into Bridgewater

A NEW export hay buyer in Bridgewater will offer growers another alternative this season.

This shed near Elmore is holding 4,000 large square bales of hay.

A NEW export hay buyer in Bridgewater will offer growers another alternative this season, as the hay-cutting season kicks off in northern areas.

West Australian company Hay Australia set up in Victoria at the end of last year, buying land at Bridgewater about eight months ago.

The Victorian Hay Australia operation is owned by five partners including the owners of the WA arm of the business, who plan to invest $6 million over the next four years, including a $300,000 grant from the Victorian Government.

Hay Australia Victorian operations manager Geoff Walker said they plan to buy and ship 25,000 tonnes this season and aim to capture 60,000 tonnes next season.

He said the move to Victoria was about spreading the risk for the company and they chose the Bridgewater site as the region has good logistics into the Port of Melbourne.

“We believe there is room for another competitor (in the market) and we plan to service the Bridgewater side of Bendigo to the West and to the North,” Mr Walker said.

Consultant Colin Peace of Jumbuk Ag said the new Victorian market entrant was an established exporter out of WA and would be welcomed by growers.

“I think they have strategically aligned themselves at a location that is accessible to hay growers in the Wimmera and Mallee,” Mr Peace said.

“They are ... accustomed to competition and have established themselves very quickly in Bridgewater.”

Mr Peace said the growers near Boort would particularly welcome the new player as two hay export plants near the town closed down after the impact of the last drought.

“The growers in this area would be keen to see a new ­facility at Bridgewater,” he said.

He said many Victorian grain growers were seeing hay as a valuable addition to their cropping regimes, especially with more farmers using it in their rotation to address the growing problem of herbicide resistance,

Mr Peace said hay demand from China was growing and Hay Australia’s WA plant was registered to export there.

Mr Walker said they are still building their facility, but they already have a 7000 square metre shed, which is being concreted.

They have one temporary hay presser, soon to become permanent, and will add another by the end of the season.

Mr Walker said the recent heavy frosts and dry weather was likely to restrict the supply of hay this year, but at this early stage of the season quality appeared to be good.

“I think the hay crop will be about average with quality up and quantity down,” he said.

Mr Peace said growers started cutting vetch hay about two weeks ago near Hopetoun in the Mallee.

And further north of Swan Hill in NSW farmers had begun to cut some cereal crops suffering from frost and moisture stress for hay.