5 minutes with Sarah Watson Farmlands Senior Grain Trader Sarah Watson on the outlook for the arable sector in 2022 and why she loves her job. In your role, every day you must be looking ahead to ensure shareholders get consistent grain supplies – how challenging is that?
being very challenging, with little
closely with our field team for
domestic grain available and strong
procurement of grain or sales.
demand, resulting in minimal carry-
I keep in regular contact with our
over of old-season grain into 2022.
external large end users to give
At times the market dynamics can make it a challenge. 2021 resulted in a high demand for domestic grain and we don’t see this year being any different. A record dairy pay-out for New Zealand dairy farmers has driven strong demand for arable growers’ grain.
Our small team works within these
options to our arable shareholders,
challenges to ensure a consistent
such as flour and oat milling, poultry
supply of quality grain to our
and egg producers, pork producers
shareholders and end users.
and compound feed manufacturers.
Talk us through a grain trader’s
Did you become a grain trader
typical working day.
by design or accident?
Supply of offshore products, such as imported grain, has had challenges with global shipping delays, weather events delaying supply of grain, such as the East Coast Australian harvest in December, and general COVID restrictions.
There is no such thing as a typical
In 2009 I graduated from University
day! Ensuring grain supply for our
of Otago, keen to work in primary
feed mills in Rolleston, Winton
industries. The opportunity arose to
and our North Island blend sites
work as a graduate grain trader with an
is a key focus of my role.
Australian company, One World Grain
I monitor grain markets domestically
(OWG), based in Melbourne. OWG is
and globally regularly to create a
key to how my grain trading career
Guaranteed supply has been a key driver in the high demand for domestic grain. This resulted in the end of 2021
trading strategy. I keep a close eye
kicked off. My role was a new position
on our trading position as this is a
for the firm where I was given total
key KPI. Our trading team works
scope to develop a buyer database
4 | THE FARMLANDER
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