Before deciding whether to cash grain at harvest or store it for a later sale, growers are encouraged to compare the cash price offered by buyers with the potential costs and returns of storing grain. While a buyer’s posted warehouse bid may appear lower, it is important to understand how receival fees, outturn fees and grain shrinkage are factored into the price.
The receival fee, outturn fee and shrink are paid by the buyer of the grain, not the grower. If a grower wishes to outturn their delivered grain, they will then have to pay the receival and outturn fee. However, if they sell their grain to a storage facility or any other buying counterparty, via a warehouse transfer, the buyer themselves pays the receival fee, outturn fee and shrink.
It is recommended to compare the buyer’s warehouse bid against the original grain price, accounting for the applicable receival, outturn and shrinkage costs, as well as the labour, time, truck availability and logistics involved in each option. This will help growers assess whether the potential return from storing grain outweighs the costs and effort involved.
Fees for grain storage facilities located in the Mallee, Wimmera and North Central regions:
Worked scenario: Delivery of 1,000 tonnes of wheat to each grain storage facility on December 15, 2026.
Calculation: (Receival fee of facility x 1000t) + (Outturn fee of facility x 1000t) + (Monthly storage fee of facility x 1000t x months past date sold) = Total fee for growers
SCENARIO A: 1000 tonnes of wheat sold on 30 March 2027 (3.5 months post harvest) at each facility
SCENARIO B: 1000 tonnes of wheat sold on 30 July 2027 (7.5 months stored) at each facility
Sources
Photo credit: GRDC GroundCover
This is a guide only, please contact the facilities directly or conduct your own research online. All information has been compiled from publicly available web sources or telephone outreach to facilities. Birchip Cropping Group (BCG) accepts no responsibility or liability for subsequent adjustments, seasonal modifications, or errors.
