Viterra held its annual pre harvest meeting this week with its strategic site committee chairs and some grower customers to provide information relevant to their business for the upcoming harvest.
Viterra works closely with its grower customers and representatives throughout the year to provide business and industry information as well as seek feedback on its operations to continuously improve its services.
The meeting was held virtually with presenters from Viterra and Glencore Agriculture speaking on a range of topics.
Viterra Chief Operations Officer James Murray provided a business update which covered the business’ continued investments into sites where it provides the greatest benefit for growers. James also spoke about Viterra’s focus on food safety and quality management, and support of regional communities.
During a market access and export panel session, Viterra Senior Inventory Manager Julie O’Dea highlighted the focus Viterra has on chemical residue as it helps to maintain market access for South Australian grain. Viterra Logistics and Supply Chain Manager Derek Robjohns spoke about the importance of shipping and outlined the benefit of Viterra’s deep water ports which allows the business to meet a range of export requirements around the world.
Two other panel sessions were held; one which discussed the domestic market and the other which discussed international markets; with panellists speaking about key trends in each.
Viterra Process Improvement and Strategy Manager Gavin Cavanagh outlined Viterra’s storage and handling fee structure which reflects efficiency gains obtained in the network. As part of Viterra’s 2020/21 fee structure, receival fees at all upcountry sites for all commodities and grades are remaining the same as last harvest, and for the second consecutive year, major wheat and other barley has not increased at upcountry sites. Gavin also outlined Viterra’s Export Select rates which have reduced at all sites for the 2020/21 season.
The meeting ended with a regional breakout session for growers to meet with their local Operations Manager and discuss planning for the upcoming harvest.
The meeting was the first of further grower meetings and discussions that will take place to outline harvest operations in more detail with growers to ensure services will meet their needs for the coming harvest.