CANEGROWERS Around the Paddock
CANEGROWERS advocates on behalf of sugarcane growers in Australia. This podcast series examines some key issues and challenges and celebrates the successes.
CANEGROWERS Around the Paddock
Stop Trying to Pick the Top
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Sugar markets are volatile, unpredictable and often driven by forces well beyond a grower’s control. So how do you make better pricing decisions without trying to pick the top of the market?
In this episode, Dougal Lodge is joined by experienced commodity risk specialist Terry Allom to talk through the fundamentals of good price risk management. Drawing on decades of experience across banking, milling, sugar marketing and other agricultural commodities, Terry explains why knowing your cost of production, having a clear plan and sticking to it can matter more than trying to outguess the market.
They also discuss how corporate farms and millers approach hedging, what sugar can learn from the cotton and grains sectors, and why, when a profitable price is on offer, sometimes the best decision is simply to take it.
As Terry puts it: you never go broke making a profit.
Welcome And Market Snapshot
SPEAKER_01Hello and welcome to the Cane Growers Marketing Information Service Update for September 2026. This is Dougal Lodge to give you a quick update on the sugar market and uh also have a conversation with one of the old stalwarts of the sugar industry in the commodity risk management area, Terry Allen. So welcome Terry, nice to have you on the podcast. Thanks, Dougal. So we'll give you a quick update on the sugar market and then we'll get Terry to introduce himself. I think over the last month, thankfully, sugar prices have remained relatively high. We're seeing prices up now near uh $560 a ton in the 26 season. It's pretty similar levels for 27. Uh 28 season about 540 and down towards 500 after that. But the good news is we're obviously back above cost of production in most regions now, which is great news. Uh the highest levels in 12 to 18 months in most most uh in you know, which is great, great to see. Uh so this has all sort of come on the back of an announcement that India would be importing some sugar. So Tez and I
Price Levels And India Import Impact
SPEAKER_01will have a bit of a chat about this in a moment. We'll go through this. Um I think we talked about this on the podcast before that Queensland is really you know lucky to be the home of some genuine leaders in the global sugar industry space in in commodity risk management. Um we we've been this lead a leader in this space, but also there's been lots of um partners who have helped bring this together. So Terry you know has been there for what about 20 odd years um working with a lot of the marketers but also working with big corporate farmers and and other players in the industry too. So Terry, I'll let you introduce yourself.
SPEAKER_00Uh thanks, Dougal. Uh yeah, look, some of you may know me. I I spent a considerable amount of time working with Rabobank, which which by default meant that I had a very uh close relationship with predominantly the millers and helped navigate the the paths of deregulation within the marketing and and seeing the growth of the marketers pre and pre and post the deregulation. Prior to Rabo, though, I had a had some experience or exposure to the other agricultural markets in the in the physical side, so predominantly cotton and um and grains. Uh and I started off with Famarco, believe it or not. So Rob Emery and I, some of you will know Rob from Famarco. We started at the company on the same day. I'm no longer there, and he has the keys to the front door. So but yes, um dealt with a lot of corporate farms. Um that includes the things like um the superannuation funds, which are becoming quite significant in terms of the land holding in in most ags in Australia. Um and I've got some, I think, relatively good insights as to how they manage their exposure, um, just as I did with the guys when I worked for the the mills and the and the
Terry Allen’s Path Through Sugar
SPEAKER_00sugar millers and how they deal with their exposure, more from understanding that they're a uh an owner of a commodity rather than a trader of a commodity.
SPEAKER_01So, Terry, just to quickly um bring it all to Rabobank, Commonwealth Bank. Commonwealth Bank, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I I headed up the trade finance division for agri for Commonwealth Bank for three years.
SPEAKER_01And then you moved into uh the milling sector for a little while.
SPEAKER_00I know there was a bit of a gap between Rabobank and um CBA. I was with uh MSF for a while, looking after some of their risk out of the north, and then I I became um down and worked with Bundaberg Sugar, who had a very strong relationship at my time at Rabobank, and and I was the general manager of marketing there, which which essentially looked after um the the pricing um and the risk management around particularly refined sugar.
SPEAKER_01And most recently MUREX.
SPEAKER_00And most recently MUREX. And for those who don't know, Murex is a a uh it's listed on the on the NASDAQ um stock exchange, it's based out of England. It it has its roots as a as a futures broker and clearer. Uh it is moving or has moved into the derivative space, which is which sugar is a a very large user of them. Um and but they look at you know things like metals, energy, um, ag to a to a smaller extent from a global perspective.
SPEAKER_01So, Terry, one of the things I think you know you you have almost like a fairly unique view on the sugar market here in Queensland, because you've you've worked with all the marketers, but you've also pulled the trigger on pricing as a mill marketer yourself as well, as well as obviously providing finance to others in the industry. But I know one of the questions we hear from the growers is, you know, do the millers, you know, they they have a perception that millers make lots of money. You know, basically I I would think the MEI, only Mill Economic Interest Management, is very similar to how a grower would manage their own risk management. So any perspectives from that side that you you think would be helpful for the growers to hear?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, look, I I think the key, the key to understanding management of pricing risk is that I'm I'm of the view over the 20 last probably 30 years I've spent in ag markets that markets change due to being unpredictable. You don't know what you don't know. And as a result, I think trying to pick markets is is a very dangerous sport. So as a result, though, and particularly when you're dealing with with corporate entities of which which most millers are, you know, you're dealing with with vehicles or beasts that are are heavily laden with you know cash flow costs. Um bankers, I was an old banker where where you would have requirements to meet covenant and and and ratios and whatnot. So as a result of that, the decision around hedging or locking in prices was driven around what the actual costs were. Now, if you had a view you and you saw a price that you knew that was going to make your return, and if your view was that the market would always move higher, it didn't stop you from or didn't preclude you from hedging it because you were required to hedge because you had policies in place. So I think that's the key difference between, say, the the the farmer and then the corporate entity is is in the farming space. You are you are very much tied to the risk management policies uh and you and you're accountable to them, and if you don't meet them, you have
Cost Of Production As The Anchor
SPEAKER_00serious questions as to why. Uh then, but essentially, you know, I was allowed to have a view, but the pro the overarching was was you need to make sure that if an opportunity arises to lock in a return, that you do so. Where I had flexibility is how I did that in terms of what structures and strategies that I may have used. But the primary objective was you never go broke making a profit. So key number one was, and I understand it's a difficult space to be in, is understand what your cost of production is and use that as your first um point of execution, if you like, of your hedge strategy.
SPEAKER_01And so Terry, you know, when you're when you're being in the in the seat pulling the trigger, um, I think that yeah, you mentioned it's it's you know, you you're allowed to have a view, but you start from that cost of production level first. So what what would be some of the things that you do to make sure you you update that and and how often would you look at that cost of production?
SPEAKER_00Oh look so the costs were usually I mean it changes from organization to organization, but but typically typically, you know, you're you'd be you'd be in touch with the CFO, um, and you know, they would give you what your budgetary numbers were, and they are what they are. Uh you can argue as much as you like and say, well, that is a you know, I I can't reach that number, that is the number. Um so you would be, you know, you'd be in in pretty close contact with these guys. They would be typically put set in stone, you know, six to twelve months in advance, so you knew what you were what you were playing with, and you would put that strategy in play. You know, but the one thing that I that I would say is the one thing that I did do is is I didn't incessantly watch a market. What I did do, or what what what my my philosophy was, is if I had a level, I would place the orders and put the strategy around that level, and if the market rallied through that level, then so be it. You never go broke making a profit, may your first sale be your worth sale. You know, there's nothing wrong with with hedging into a rally in market, never trying to pick the tops. Uh, because I found that in over my lifetime and particularly dealing in financial markets at the bank level, I've seen a lot of guys, a lot of people try to pick the tops and do a very, very good job of picking the bottom.
SPEAKER_01So that's one of the things I was thinking about. Obviously, you you you worked in the milling side, but also you've you've worked with corporate farming operations. Yes. And so do you see when you're you're banking a corporate farming operation or working with them, do they have a pretty good handle on their costs and a good strategy around how they how they try to you know get prices above their costs?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, this is this is an interesting one. Um the short answer is yes, they do. Um why? Because they have to. Um at the end of the day, when you're talking about corporate farmers and look at the the when you're a corporate farmer, you're as part of the C-suite, they're directly reportable to the board, and the board uh uh are responsible for their investors, and they, you know, they have some expectations about generating returns. And and as a result of that, you would sit around on a you know, on a on an annual basis to set the big level targets, and you would meet every other week, if not every month, to go through where you're at and whether or not you need to adjust them. And that's that's a key point. Strategies never, you know, they're always fluid, but it was for those guys, uh, particularly if they had a certain amount of leverage and they had financial commitments. Hedging was about making sure that they were managing their cash flows through proper due
Corporate Policies Cash Flow And Covenants
SPEAKER_00diligent hedging and selling of the products. Because remember, these guys aren't traders, they're like growers. You you're actually uh long sugarcane or long sugar, right? So you own it and you need to sell it. And it's about how do you sell it and the strategies behind when you sell it. You never go, as I said, you never go broke making a profit. And and some of the best hedge strategies that I've seen have been forced upon corporates and and millers alike because of requirements to meet um financial commitments, um, particularly from a balance sheet perspective. You've you've got to generate the cash flows to keep the banker happy, and we all know where you've got to keep your banker happy.
SPEAKER_01So, outside of you know your sugar experience, Terry, you've obviously worked with a few of the other ag industries um here in Australia. Um, you know, I think we know that they're a bit similar to sugar, but at the same time that they're probably a bit different. So, how do you how do you see some of those other industries when they approach their price risk management and and and you know their strategies around that, you know, how they're different to what what we do in Queensland?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it that's an interesting question, Dougle, because what I think if if we reflect back 25-30 years, these agricultural industries, particularly the hedgeable ones, so you know I'm thinking about you know, the cotton is is is probably as close to sugar as you can feel from the way that they have a of a um a requirement for not a mill, but they call it a ginnah. Then you've also got the grain guys as well, and the and the oilseed guys. All of these industries were essentially regulated, and if not, you know, they were they were run by by state boundaries, um, which then morphed into, in certain instances, into global uh into international ones. So the grain guys, the Australian wheat board was was probably the one where they acted on behalf of all the growers, all the cotton gins that they have. You can think of a cotton ginner very in the same vein as a as a as a cotton, as a cotton, as a sugar miller, but they had rights, marketing rights over everything that was in within that area or within that state. Uh and that market deregulated. Those markets deregulated, and as a result, the first progress for them to do was to run marketing pools. And and growers were able to deliver into those marketing pools, and they were very, very well supported. But as time grew by went by and growers and producers became a little bit more uh astute to what was available in terms of marketing. Hedging and using swaps, for example, was prevalent within the grain sector and in the cotton sector 25-30 years ago, and it has evolved over time, is that those pools essentially no longer exist. The growers out there have decided to, and the reason why is not because the pools were
Lessons From Cotton And Grain Deregulation
SPEAKER_00good, bad, or indifferent, is the pools were essentially out there trying to basically price at the average over a period of time, and that didn't quite meet the needs of each, because each individual grower was was unique in what their cost of production was, what their uh what their production risk was. So as a result, the majority, if not all, actually not not the majority, today the cotton markets um they have spot markets, same with the wheat markets. So it's it would be akin to you guys rolling up with a uh a wagon full of cane and looking at your miller and actually seeing a cash price by five or six different buyers sitting at the mills. That's essentially how the other ag markets uh are operating. They have physical forward cash markets. Shared pool concept is something that's was there but is no longer there. Um but the reason why they've the the the growers uh in those industries have moved away from them is uh I think they just wanted more control and and they've adopted that. And the one thing that I would say is that that actually has transformed uh or transferred quite well within the sugar sector. Now, there's the way that the production risks and the seasons and and the infrastructure that's available for sugar are different, right? So you can't compare, they're not apples for apples, but they're very similar.
SPEAKER_01And so do you see like grain growers or cotton growers out there, do they hedge forward a couple of years, or what how do they approach their risks? Um, or are they, I suppose some of them can change from a type of grain like wheat into things like canola or other things too?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh that's an interesting one. So if you think about dryland grain growers in particular, or dry land growers, um, depending on their location, they've got the ability to switch, and they do switch between crops. One can be because of of price signals, but predominantly it's from an agronomic perspective, that they will keep the rotations in play. The grain guys um have the the big difference that these guys have had is is that they are now heavily invested into on-farm storages. Um so there is more storage in this country for grain than there is grain produced. And so they in the past they used to deliver direct to to silos that were on the railhead. Most of them keep it on on farm. Y helps them with their production risk. Uh, and they now tend to do most of their marketing uh in the physical markets rather than the than the cash markets, um, because they have what they call larger basis exposures. And and they also have, I think, comparative to sugar, a greater production risk. Dougle and you and I were talking yesterday about uh you know the the variation in in wheat production between one year was um 20 million tonnes and the next year was 38 million tonnes. Cotton, that's very much a water play. Um they will hedge forward and they will use OTCs, but only on the pretext that they have um committed water for the following seasons. Cotton, worst season we've ever seen, 600,000 bales. Two years later they produce just under six million bales. That gives you an idea about the variability and production, these industries that are not coastal based.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so that that commodity risk management piece, but they're probably less less um keen to go forward.
SPEAKER_00Particularly within the grain sectors, the the only reason why that they would price forward is if the re risk was worth the reward. So when we see historically high prices, they will they will they will enter the market and they'll do 10, 15, 20 odd per cent of it. The the cotton growers, they will want to wait to ensure that they've actually got water allocation. But the but the cotton guys, the one thing I'd say is they were very much value focused. They're not focused on whether markets are moving higher or lower. It's once they see a price that they like, they lock it away because it's growing cotton is not a cheap exercise.
SPEAKER_01Essentially they start from their profit target first, and once they hit that, they'll almost work it backwards in terms of their production planning.
SPEAKER_00Uh yes, as well, yeah. And look, if if if you look at what it costs you to plant a cot uh a cotton crop, if if prices are uh uh just not going to cut the mustard, they'll hold the water over. Because at the end of the day, cotton guys that are irrigated, they're looking at return on megalitre.
SPEAKER_01Interesting. And so just getting back to sugar, then, so you see sugar is obviously quite different then because I think the production risk is relatively low compared to some of these other guys, and I know you banked and priced for some of these other industries. So, how how does a banker or a a price risk provider, how do you how do you guys see sugar and sugar?
SPEAKER_00I think, and I've spoken to uh uh other guys within the
Production Risk Water Storage And Timing
SPEAKER_00sugar sector who have had exposure to gr to the other ag markets, is is sugar is from my perspective one of the most pure hedgeable commodities that are that are out there. Couple of reasons why is you have relatively good surety of production year on year. But uh we know that the industry had some issues, Jesus, when was that? Back in the early 2000s, you know, but but but the the good thing is that the industry learned from that and they've set very diligent policies in play to basically minimize the chances of overhedging from an industry perspective, and and that's to be applauded. Um but the but the good thing about sugar compared to the grains and the cotton guys is is the sh the sugar price is truly global because it is is deliverable in so many port zones. You hedge cotton off a off a U New York future uh like a US futures facility, not too dissimilar to sugar, but it's only deliverable in the US. Whereas c whereas sugar, if you really wanted to, we can deliver sugar here against the futures. So, you know, it is it is by far and away the largest ag hedge commodity in this country. Yeah. Um it used to be grains and it was cotton, but sugar is is is one of the um, you know, the the adoption of it, I and I've seen it when it started to now, you know, is it's been nothing short of of a really good transition and one I think the industry needs to be proud of.
SPEAKER_01So I know Terry, you know, we sort of um look at the tools being available as one thing, but how well do you think, you know, just in general, like you've been a banker, um, yeah, you've seen good practice and not so good practice. How do you how do you think we in general are we using these tools? Um you know, as as as firstly probably ag sectors in general, but also then you know sugar in particular.
SPEAKER_00Yep, uh two things. I think don't get caught up in all the hype around some of the structures. You never get something for nothing. Keep it simple. And if you're going to do stuff that's a little bit funky, that would be an option-based structure, do it do it around the fringes. Um, but what I would say is that the adoption, you can see the adoption has been quite strong, but I I think that we need as as an industry, maybe users of them, is question our behaviour behind them. You know, we saw, for example, when we saw that big last rally where sugar spot prices got to like $900 a ton. I I can't help but feel that influenced a lot of people's behaviour in the following seasons, where very, very little hedging got done. Um I think you've got to see that that was a that was an anomaly uh and treated as such. Uh and and that I think what happened is people have seen those high prices and used that as their new benchmark as to where they need where they would like to price. And to be quite honest, the market doesn't care less where you need or want it to go. The market will be as strong as the weakest seller and it will do what it wants to do.
SPEAKER_01And I think what we what I saw just the concept of the weakest seller, I think I suppose is Brazil in typically in our in our market. Pretty much. The biggest producer.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you know, and it's thinking of switching ethanol into sugar or vice versa, right? Um and then you get the you you get the inconsistencies around the Indian government and who knows what they're going to do. It's usually it's usually the introduction of the unknown that makes a market rally or fall away. Uh and I think you know, we'd be naive to think that that if anybody knows that where the market's going, well, if we did, we all
Why Sugar Is A Pure Hedge
SPEAKER_00wouldn't be sitting here at the moment. We'd be out there with with Clive Palmer on his big boat watching the ro watching the fireworks in Brisbane last weekend. So yeah, I'm very cautious, I'd say, is is have a plan. And this is what I found is is those that had a plan, and and one of the millers that I work for, even when the market was at 900 in the front end, we knew it was at 600 in the back end, 600 makes money, don't care if it goes to 900, I'm gonna start at 600, right? So again, you never go broke, making a profit. I think that's what the key thing is, rather than hoping and praying that you want the market to move higher.
SPEAKER_01So I suppose, Terry, you know, given you know that the gl that Sugar really is a truly global market out there, and there's lots of really good information for us to see about the behavior of the speculators, you know, the you know, who are out there in our market and uh influencing prices, but also the the commercials or the producers, the sellers, right? So I think what we saw recently is you know the speculators have have reversed their position, they've started to buy back, you know, buy lots and lots of you know sugar futures contracts in anticipation of the prices going higher. But I think we've also seen that, like you're saying, people sort of did sort of pull back a bit, but there's the the sellers out there have really started to you know get getting getting involved. And I think we've seen Brazil now you know up to near 45% priced for 27 season. Yes. So they're already they're already getting well ahead. So this is gonna be having some influences on the future for our sugar supply, I suppose. And this is the stuff which you know growers should be should be aware of, is even though the mic the market maybe has popped back up again, it doesn't mean that people are out there doing nothing and and praying that it's gonna keep going higher too, right?
SPEAKER_00Well and that's that's so true because I think the thing to be mindful of is is Brazil, Brazil is not Brazil has a um it doesn't have a philosophy of hedging longer dated stuff. Not because they don't like it, but purely because they don't have the capital resources to do that. Um but if we look in the in the near term in terms of the current season coming through, you know, and I wasn't aware of that comp the number till this morning, but but it is by far and away the Brazilian crop is far more advanced in its hedging program than than what um Australia or Thailand or those sort of guys are. Although I I do understand that then the recent rally, um talking to the marketers, we have seen some. Good activity, which is which is nice to hear. But um yeah, the the point will be is if you've got the largest sugar exporter in the world, I think that's the key point there. And if they have hedged that, that will take away a little bit of the the flex in the ethanol
Keep Structures Simple And Avoid Hype
SPEAKER_00fuel flex there because they will have to make that. And ultimately they can end up delivering that to the chain. So, you know, it's again when you get the big names like Brazil sitting in there uh and selling, and if they're selling on a consistent one, that probably suggests to you not that I want to take a trading bias here, but that would feel that the market's a little bit toppish. And the question that I would then ask Doogle is if we think about these funds that have got in here and got long and helped this market rally, the one thing you don't know is that that fund manager wakes up in the morning and goes, Oh well, Brazil's starting to start starting to stand in front of me. Maybe I've made the money on the out of this and and and you know, watch out when a fund decides or the the longs decide to liquidate their positions. And I think you were saying just before that the the fund long position is one of the largest that we've seen in the last decade. Um at some stage that these guys will want to consolidate that pro or realise that profit. And you know, markets will move where the volume goes, and if the and if they throw a lot of uh selling in there, we could quite easily find ourselves back to the levels where we're at. I don't I don't know. I don't have a crystal ball though.
SPEAKER_01So Terry, you know, when you think about the the sugar milling business and you know uh when we think about milling, like most millers have got you know access to refineries and other parts of their business, they've got molasses. How do you think about you know your sugar pricing and your exposures there as part of an overall portfolio, I suppose? And how how do you think growers can be thinking about that as well for themselves?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think that's good, I mean you you if you think from a a mill perspective, the the their their formula hasn't changed for forever. First four units, away they go. Um again, something that's quite unique in agriculture because all the other major agricultural entities, they don't do that. They charge a fixed fee for it, um, which is around their costs essentially from an industry perspective. Uh, but you know, the other thing is that they've also got byproducts as well. So their income stream is not just limited to sugar. They've got molasses. That's a that's an interesting market, can be linked to energy. God help us if the if if this El Nino clips into gear here, molasses will become the flavour of the month from a livestock perspective. So that might help drive revenues. Uh and let's not forget the electricity side of it as well. Yeah, um, that that has has been a big cash flow injection into some of them, but be mindful that that um constructing a cogeneration plant is not a very cheap exercise at all. So
Brazil Selling Funds Buying And Market Risk
SPEAKER_00there's a lot of capital that needs to be repaid on those. So, you know, they very much focus on that. Uh, the one thing I would say is that from a hedge perspective, um, the the price that a mill can can, the income stream which a mill can most like or can get some longevity over in terms of protecting is sugar. The rest of them pretty much spot markets, right? So you're not going to be able to go long term forward. Uh if we think from a uh a producer's perspective, and let's just make the assumption that they're purely a cane producer, uh, you've got a very large exposure to one commodity, um, which which to my mind means that you've got to be very disciplined in your approach around when opportunities do arise. And and sugar prices and ag markets are are extremely volatile. Um, year on year, you you can see them, you know, they've got a volatility percentage around 30%. To put that into perspective, currencies are about nine or ten, so they're three times as more volatile than the Aussie peso at the moment. Um, so the key thing will be is that when there is opportunity, and I see this with the good producers, is that they're willing to walk in and make the decision and not regret that if the market moves higher, that they've made the wrong decision. If anything, if the market moves higher, they're actually going to be much better off. Because at the end of the day, farming is, and this from a bank perspective, is all about revenue per, let's say, hectare, less cost per hectare to give you that that gap, and that's how you get there. I I could be wrong, but I don't think we've seen a lot of uplift in sugarcane yields over the last number of decades when we compare that to things like cotton and and grains. They've exponentially had larger increases. Now, that may actually not be a that's not a bad reflection on the sugar. Maybe that the sugar guy, you the sugar industry was well abreast of it on top of it before the other guys got there, right? So, and it's more about agronomics, I think, rather than genetics and those ones. But um, yeah, you can control your cost to a certain degree, um, but I think you've got more control over managing your revenues when opportunities arise. And when I traded a book, or when I was a report, Miss Ranger's a book, the biggest lesson I learned is is I would put orders on and I wouldn't look at them again until the next day if they were just daily ones, because they'll put there for a reason and then they stay there for a reason. Never never question it.
SPEAKER_01All right, Tiz. Well, thank you very much for all your insight so far. I think before we wrap it up, it might
Mill Byproducts And Portfolio Thinking
SPEAKER_01be good just to quickly maybe focus on your top three tips for the growers out there to be thinking about when they're approaching their price risk management. And I suppose you know if they want to ask any questions to any particular people out there, too, whether it's their marketers or their financial advisors or their accountants, because I know you've been in this space for a long time. So it'd be great to hear your top three.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh well, I think number one first and foremost is have a plan. Have a policy. It doesn't have to be, you know, it can be in your head, but it is quite good to have it written down just in case, you know, you disappear. But have it there. That would be the first one. Have it understand to the best that you can what your costs are and what you need to break even. Treat it like treat it like a business. That would that would be one. Second one is discipline. No good having a risk management policy or having a plan if you don't adhere to it. As I said earlier on, if if the market circumstances change, you know, there are ways and means to facilitate those changes in your market views, but at all point in times, I think the the the the main thing is to protect your actual underlying balance sheet and protect your income and your revenue. So the one thing I'd say is that in my in my 12 odd years, actually 15 years in in banks and financial institutions where I was executing the OTCs, the hedge positions that you were looking at, whenever we see an and I'm sure the question gets asked today is that if the market's moved and moved higher, and I I would have a grower that would put an order in and the markets rallied, but just a little bit off where his order is, they call me and go, What do you think? Where do you think the market's gonna go? Short answer is I don't know. But would I change your would I change the order level? No, because it was put there for a reason. But you're not going to do all your eggs and throw all your eggs in one basket, which is you know, you're gonna split your you're gonna split up your um your exposure and you sell you you sell into rallies, you know, you know that you sell into rallies and you try to get the average price. So um again, so you need to you need to be committed. And the and the third one was is is don't be afraid to to seek some advice. Don't be afraid to talk within yourselves, within the
Three Grower Tips And Closing
SPEAKER_00industry. But but don't don't be uh don't be like a f uh you know uh uh sheep and and all follow in the same direction. I think that's the safety about when people look at pools, you know that when you go down to the to the local hotel that you've got the same return as the other guy next door. That'd be the one thing, and and and to that end, you we we think about the advisors. There's a very, very strong network of advisors in the grains and the cotton sector. Not as many within the sugar sector, but they're there, and and and part of them is to use them as a sounding board and to help you with those top two points that I've got about planning and discipline.
SPEAKER_01So, Terry, thanks very much for coming along and joining us today on the podcast. Uh, as always, it's great to hear your pearls of wisdom and um you know certainly looking forward to having you back um again and I'm sure the growers will appreciate you know uh your perspectives going forward.
SPEAKER_00Thanks, Dougle. Uh, really appreciate it. If if anybody's got any questions out there, shoot them into Dougal's email box and I'll I'll do my best if you need to to respond to it.
SPEAKER_01Thanks very much, Terry.
SPEAKER_00Cheers.
SPEAKER_01Um that wraps up the September 2026 Cangrowers Marketing Information Service update. Um look forward to catching up with you uh sometime later in the year and hope the harvest is all going well. We'll see you soon.
SPEAKER_02Please note that Cangrowers does not have an Australian Financial Services licence, so all the information contained in this presentation is general information only.