Buckwheat Marketing

April 4th, 2011

Dear Grower,

Homestead Organics is happy to again offer you both conventional and certified organic markets for buckwheat in 2011.

The crop price is up considerably from 2010 along with the rise in all commodity prices. This year, we are paying US$555/tonne for conventional and US$645/tonne for certified organic. Your exchange rate is set when you deposit your payment at your bank. The price is paid on a clean dry basis (15% moisture), landed by you in Berwick

Please consult our guides and tips for buckwheat production.

Both our conventional and organic buckwheat production contracts require new large black seed purchased from us. The seed price has risen along with commodity values - C$33 / 50 lbs for conventional and C$38 / 50 lbs for organic, FOB Berwick Ont. You can order the seed here or through any of our dealers.

The crop should be delivered to Berwick before December 20th. We offer a transportation allowance of US$7.50 per tonne for farmers further than 3 hours one-way from Berwick (west of Belleville, north of Pembroke) and US$15 per tonne over 5 hours from Berwick (west of Toronto).

We deduct dockage but we do not charge for cleaning. Moisture above 15% is docked at a rate of 2 for 1 which includes the weight of the water and the cost of drying. The target specific weight is 285 grams per half litre.

Cumulative low-quality discounts of US$10/tonne apply in each case of dockage above 6%, moisture above 20%, and specific weight below 250 grams per half litre. These discounts serve to cover the extra handling costs for exceptionally poor quality product. Please manage your combine settings to improve the specific weight and reduce the amount of dockage. A farm cleaner can help remove the wet dockage and reduce the risk of heating.

These are full production contracts; you must deliver all that you harvest and any left-over seed. There are no storage charges and deliveries are paid in about 30 days.

Farmers without decent aerated storage must deliver immediately after harvest because the risk of heating is very high. Others should take advantage of a good aeration system to reduce the cost of transportation and drying. On-farm drying is feasible, but please limit the grain temperature to less than 150F degrees to maintain the food value, and do not go below 14% moisture.

Please advise us of your intentions, as we need to reserve enough seed for everyone. You will obtain your production contract when you pick up your seed.

Tom Manley

President.