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The savvy way for farmers to seize buying opportunities

Sponsored Content May 15, 2023

AGRICULTURAL businesses are constantly battling with external factors to determine when they sell their grain, livestock or produce and when they capitalise on good buying opportunities.

Environmental and economic issues like halts on export markets, weather events, the COVID pandemic, current market trends and rising interest rates are all playing a major part in the determining how farmers operate, forcing them to be more savvy in managing finances and balancing their cashflow.

As a result, agribusinesses are using innovative options to maximise profit and seize the right buying opportunities as they arise.

Craig Miller who runs a 1500ha livestock and cropping operation in Temora, in New South Wale’s Riverina region, is one such farmer.

Juggling the need to buy fertiliser and chemical for his crops whilst holding on to his grain, waiting for commodity prices to improve, led Craig to the buy now pay later service that fintech company DelayPay offers.

Through DelayPay he’s been able to buy what he needs in the short term and then pay it back in six months once he’s sold his grain.

“The 24-hour turnaround from DelayPay has been really helpful in order to buy inputs when the price is right, rather than the 3-4 weeks the banks often take to approve finance, by which time the pricing has changed,” Craig said.

According to Craig, buying opportunities often come up at short notice and he doesn’t have time to wait for lengthy financial institution approvals.

“DelayPay works really quick, with much less mucking around than the banks.

“And nothing is ever a hassle; they return phone calls and are easy to contact which makes doing business on a tight timeframe easy,” he said.

Similarly, sheep feedlot farmer Ben Schiller sought out the buy now pay later service when trying to grow his enterprise in Napla, South Australia, northwest of Eudunda.

Ben had a solid vision and a well thought out plan on building his business and that’s all DelayPay needed to get Ben on his way.

Initially Ben used the buy now pay later company to buy lambs on an 8 week turnaround, and then again to buy the hay and grain to feed them. He has since used DelayPay several more times over the years to maximise his cashflow and finds it the perfect solution to growing his business without having to jump through any of the long, drawn-out hurdles of other lenders.

He acknowledges that trading sheep is hard, but credits DelayPay as one of the reasons that he has a successful business that lambs down around 1100 ewes a year. He also has plans to extend his sheep feedlot from a 7,000 to 10,000 head capacity and has done all of this without a bank overdraft!

“Now that I’ve got a successful operation the banks want to do business with me, but where were they at the start when I needed them most?” Ben said.

“They’re quick and easy and it just works for me and the way I run my operation.” See more of Ben’s story HERE.

DelayPay chief executive officer Kelsey Miller said he’s seen an increase in the uptake of farmers looking for other ways to manage their cashflow, particularly in terms of being able to quickly seize buying opportunities as they arise.

“In the livestock industry, we’ve seen farmers who are trying to work out how to hold on to their cattle and sheep to avoid selling in a flat or degrading market, while still balancing the need to grow and feed their herd,” Mr Miller said.

“DelayPay helps farmers lock in a good buying opportunity when the price is right for feed, stock or machinery, while still having the flexibility to seek stronger prices on livestock commodities by holding until the market is right.”

If you want to explore this service more, give DelayPay a call: Mieke 0455 888 392 or Kelsey 0409 117 730 or request a callback HERE.

 

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