Australian Wheat for Export from Farm to Wharf.
At present in Australia wheat is all handled in bags which contain about 3 bushels of grain. The price of empty bags varies from $1.50 to $2.00 per doz. Very few second-hand bags are used. The different State Governments in Australia are now considering the wisdom of introducing the American system of handling wheat in bulk. The Governments of New South Wales and of Western Australia have definitely announced their intention of establishing that system, while it is being favourably considered in Victoria. Once the system was introduced in any of the States it would probably be only a short time before it was adopted throughout the Commonwealth. At present, however, bags are in universal use, the grain being thus carried both for local and export trade.
The settler finds no difficulty in selling his wheat, as grain merchants and millers compete for it. Often sales are made before the crop is ripe. The large wheat merchants and shippers have their agents in every town, and these men visit the farms, inspect the grain, and make an offer according to the ruling market price. The local millers are also competing for what grain they want for local consumption. The grower is paid on delivery at the mill or the nearest railway station. If he prefers to do so he can store it with the buying firms, giving them the right to purchase when he is prepared to sell, or he can store on the farm. The export values of wheat per bushel for the last six years, have been:—
| 1909 | $1.00 |
| 1910 | 1.00 |
| 1911 | 0.84 |
| 1912 | 0.95 |
| 1913 | 0.84 |
| 1914 | 0.82 |
Wheat is bought and sold on what is known as the f.a.q. (fair average quality) system. Samples of wheat are taken from the various districts by the different Chambers of Commerce, and each State fixes its own f.a.q. standard. These samples are mixed together, and by careful testing on a patent scale it is ascertained what an Imperial bushel of weight actually weighs. The idea is to ascertain as equitably as possible what a fair average sample of the season's wheat should weigh. The standard varies a little in different years; it may be 61, 62, 64, or as low as 58 lbs. to the bushel. Whatever it is fixed at for the season that is the basis upon which all sales are made. If the market price for wheat, for instance, is $1.20 per bushel, it is for wheat up to the f.a.q. standard. Say the latter has been fixed at 62 lbs., the wheat must show that weight. Agents have what is called a chrondrometer for the purpose of testing the wheat. If it is below the f.a.q. standard, a lower price is given. This system has been devised to suit the export trade. Samples of the standard wheat are sent to markets abroad, and all cargoes are sold on that basis. When they arrive at the market abroad they must test up to the f.a.q. standard. This system has been in force in Australia for nearly half a century.
It must be understood that this standard f.a.q. weight has nothing to do with the quantity for which the grower is paid. He is always paid on the Imperial bushel basis, 60 lbs. Whatever the standard may be, every 60 lbs. of wheat is a bushel. The f.a.q. weight is a standard for quality, not quantity.
There is always a market for Australian wheat, and the price is always equal to what wheat is bringing in the world's main markets. Australian wheat has a character of its own, and a character that is improving. British millers want it on account of the large amount of flour it produces, and the colour and bloom it gives to their product. The grain is usually bright and clear in texture and rich in gluten, having fine milling qualities. Of late years Australian wheats have been considerably improved in strength, and this factor is continuing, and they undoubtedly promise to more than equal any wheat produced, possessing not only colour and bloom, but also strength, and giving the miller what he wants to produce an ideal article.
