CORONAVIRUS is hindering export prices of agricultural products and impacting the supply of chemicals, according to industry leaders and distributors.
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Victorian Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said the coronavirus was just one element in a "perfect storm" of factors affecting industry.
"That's culminating in what we're hearing are some shorts in the market in timing of supplies getting here," he said.
"We understand some manufacturers hadn't allocated as much product to come into the country as they would have in a general year because it had been so dry.
"Then also there's going to be more competition for product because of the rainfalls that have been there."
Mr Jochinke said the rock lobster market had been "absolutely decimated" by the virus and horticultural products were starting to be affected.
"Cauliflower now has come into full production but prior to that the supply was a bit short, the price skyrocketed for a head of cauliflower and now it's come right back down because the market has been shut down plus there's plentiful supply.
"In the grains industry we have probably seen a $20 drop in most of the grades of wheat due to the export fears relating to physically being able to move product.
"There are some concerns in the meat industry but we haven't seen that being touched too much and those concerns are around what happens if it reaches our premium market such as Japan."
Mr Jochinke said there would be a chemical supply challenge, particularly for glysophate, clethodim, prosulfocarb and propyzamide, and he had placed an order at field days for his own business.
"Clethodim is the one where the factory blew up in China," he said.
"We use a lot of that as grass herbicide and crop, especially legumes and oilseeds."
Mr Jochinke said the panic buying phenomenon showed people were concerned about product availability but the agriculture industry "wasn't necessarily feeling the full brunt of what the virus might mean in the Wimmera".
"More acutely I think we'll see it when people are getting all of their inputs together to put their crop in," he said.
"It might be challenging for people to just grab everything they would normally just roll in and grab.
"I'm hearing the supply chain will be able to catch up but it's just once again a timing issue for most products."
Australian Grain Export accumulation manager Oliver Reid said barley exports were already stifled by China's anti-dumping probe in 2018.
He said overall there had been an impact on futures, which hurt prices rather than a change in physical imports and exports.
The Wimmera Grain Company grain buyer Sarah Pathirana said there had been no direct impact on pulses.
"The key will be to watch sales at Ramadan this year for lentils and chickpeas," she said.
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Eliza Berlage
Eliza Berlage made the move to Horsham to report for the Wimmera Mail-Times in October 2019. Originally from Sydney, she has a sociology background and spent two years working in the press gallery in Canberra.
Eliza Berlage made the move to Horsham to report for the Wimmera Mail-Times in October 2019. Originally from Sydney, she has a sociology background and spent two years working in the press gallery in Canberra.
