It’s a well-known fact that buying groups benefit their farming members by utilising group spend in order to secure preferential terms. Over recent years, we have taken this one step further by introducing ‘bulk buys’ into our calendar. Designed to make the most of seasonal purchasing, we encourage members to plan ahead and group their purchases together to maximise order volume, and in turn secure even more advantageous terms for all involved – including those smaller farmers who wouldn’t be able to access these terms from some suppliers. Each year these buys continue to grow in volume as more members learn of the advantages, so, if you’re not sure, we suggest having a read of our blog below explaining why we believe it’s the way forward.
Fuel
There are a couple of options when considering bulk buying for fuel, we are able to offer our members a Forward Fix or our Annual Bulk Harvest Buy/Winter Kerosene Buy. These vary greatly depending on your requirements, but are both regularly used by our membership currently.
Forward Fix: Perhaps the riskiest of all our bulk buys, forward fixing allows you to fix at a rate set by the fuel companies for a set literage over a set amount of time. This is available for kerosene, gas oil and DERV. For an example, please see below.
| Name | Address | Product | Price P/ Litre | Literage P/Month | Duration of Fix |
| Mr MacDonald | Old MacDonalds Farm | Red Diesel | 75.99 | 5,000 | March, April May, June, July, August. |
Now there are pros and cons to this method, it is a legally binding contract, meaning you have to take the literage each month or run the risk of financial penalties. Equally, if the price suddenly plummets whilst you are in your fix, you are still required to take your set amount for the price originally agreed. With that said however, if the price soars, the company is still required to supply you with the literage at the agreed price – leaving you sitting smugly in your office chair! It’s not for everyone, but this method has proven popular with those members looking to budget for the financial year as they know exactly how much their fuel will cost them. If you would like to learn more about forward fixing your fuel, you can contact Brigitte.
Harvest Bulk Buy: Our most popular choice of bulk gas oil buying is by far our harvest bulk buy. We run this every year in July, August and September and it allows you the freedom and flexibility to work month on month – something you don’t get with forward fixing. We usually select a set delivery window of around 3 days within the month and ask members to pledge their literage for delivery on those set days. It is open to all members who are able to take deliveries of 1,000L or more to one tank. By collating a large order like this, we are able to put it out to tender with our fuel suppliers and in turn secure a better price than the price we are working with on the day.
Kerosene Bulk Buy: This runs almost identically to our harvest bulk buy, we collate members literage for a bulk delivery usually mid-November – weather depending. Again, members are required to take a minimum of 1,000L per tank to be eligible.
Understandably, anything like this isn’t without risk. We turn the bulk buy around very fast, often placing orders within 2 working days of the first deliveries – but we aren’t able to predict what could happen with the market within that time period. The price we secure is fixed, so if the market drops – the fuel company benefits but equally if the market increases – hey, you’re in luck. This is the same risk that you take every time you place a fuel order with us, as our fuel deliveries are priced on the day of order as standard. I always say the bulk buy isn’t worth running out over *particularly in harvest* but if you’re going to need the fuel, you might as well try and save some money here and there by joining in the bulk buy. If you would like to know more, please contact Abi.
Sheep Feed
If you’re rearing sheep for a spring lambing, and are going to require sheep feed over the winter or early spring, it’s well worth taking a look at our bulk sheep feed buy. We collate tonnage through October for delivery anytime from mid-November through to Mid-April. This is open to members requiring either bagged or bulk products across a range of ME and protein levels. By joining our bulk buy this year, you could have saved up to £40 per tonne at the time of writing (Feb 2022) – so well worth considering. For more information, please contact Rachael.
Forage
Each spring we gather orders to place once the new forage prices are released. This varies year on year depending on product availability and import timings. Recently, there has been very little – if any- stock left over from previous years, and huge delays on product arriving at our docks. Due to such demand, there usually aren’t any further savings for bulk buying – but it does remove the stress of remembering to call once prices are released. Whether you are happy to shop around, or prefer to stick with a particular brand – we are able to assist. If you would like to add your name to our forage bulk buy, you can contact Maria.
Rope Bangers
The likelihood is if you’re growing arable crops you are quite familiar with the concept of bird scaring. There are a variety of methods from scarecrows to gas guns for you to choose from depending on your budget. We have a good number of suppliers offering bird scaring rope bangers so at the beginning of the year we organise a bulk buy in order to save our members money. We usually begin gathering interested members at the beginning of the year so contact Abi if you’re interested.
Hop String
During the autumn we take orders for members hop string requirements for the next season. As with some of our other bulk buys this isn’t necessarily tied to one supplier but is more used to take the pressure off our members with regards to ordering. As with forage, hop string is heavily affected by import charges and restrictions so ordering early helps avoid any expensive last minute orders. If you would like to be included, you can speak to Rosie Wickham.
Cartridges
We have a choice of suppliers we are able to source cartridges through, and as the shooting season begins to loom, we receive a large number of orders for delivery to our office. Members are then able to collect their cartridges from us*. By being prepared for your shoot days enables you to receive a larger discount than purchasing from your local gunsmiths as you are invoiced from the cartridge producers on your Southern Farmers account. Should you like a copy of the cartridge price list, or for more information, please contact Brigitte. Members can save up to 25% on list prices from some suppliers.
John Nix & Pesticide Guides
We purchase both John Nix Pocketbooks and Pesticide Guides on behalf of our members in bulk. On average, you can save 15% on the RRP by joining in on the bulk buy. We typically order the Pocketbooks in November and March for the Pesticide Guides. If you would like to be included, Rosie Wickham will be able to arrange this.
