Seed prices

[Agapornis]

Hi guys and gals.

Just letting you all know of my experiences with seed prices over the past couple of months and the impact the drought in
the country NSW, and central Queensland area,s seems to be having on certain brands of seed out there.
I was buying Golden Cobb cockatiel mix 20 klo bags for $35.00 a bag earlier this year only to be greeted with, that will be $57.00 a bag on my next trip to the supplier. Golden Cobb seed comes down from Queensland ,shipped out of Brisbane to all over Australia. Their finch mix and budgie mixes were about the same price earlier in the year, and also jumped to the
$57.00 per bag. A number of other seed suppliers had a slight rise in their seed but seem to have levelled off or even come
back a bit in price, so can anybody tell me why Golden Cobb seed went so high in comparison to other brands.

There is debate on imported seeds and local home grown theories being used to justify such a price hike, but if this is the case, why are the Avi-Grain, Elenbee seeds, Crystal Pets and other similar suppliers selling similar mixes for around the
$ 35.00 / 20 klo bag, and golden cobbs still up at these high prices.

Regards, Agapornis.

[finchbreeder]

It has jumped on this side of the country too.
LML

[Craig52]

There is debate on imported seeds and local home grown theories being used to justify such a price hike, but if this is the case, why are the Avi-Grain, Elenbee seeds, Crystal Pets and other similar suppliers selling similar mixes for around the
$ 35.00 / 20 klo bag, and golden cobbs still up at these high prices.

Regards, Agapornis.

If i was in your situation,i would buy from the other suppliers.Golden cob is just another supplier of quality seed or is it,if you can buy the same quality from those other suppliers for $20 less buy it,buy a small quantity and test it for sprouting percentage.Bird seed is in the same competition like everything else,if one company hikes up its prices then go to the next supplier.When Golden Cobs sales drop then so will their prices imo.
If the seed seems a bit dusty you could always run it through a seed winnower before you feed it out,with a little bit of effort you could save big $ so shop around. Craig

[matcho]

Attended the Orange sale, bought 25kgs of finch mix for $35. Sprouts great, no bullshit fillers. Wish I had bought 2 bags.Seller was from Dubbo.

Have bought Crystal Grain and also finch mix from JM Produce at Erskine Park. Unfortunatley it all depends on what is available as per the mix. JM to me had too much little round black seed which no one ate which I thought as a filler. Their Finch Mix was great at the start but did not fulfill my requirements in the end. Went to Crystal, great, no black fillers, sprouts well and a competitive price. Golden Cob has been around for years and is a big name thing sold through major supermarket chains/pet shops so any slight rise in grain prices is at least doubled to offset their costs to people who have a budgie, canary or lovebird. When the grain prices lower the shelf price will not. People become accustomed to the price.

If you have a chance try and attend any bird sales and I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised by the grain sellers outside of the venue. I know I have been.

Ken.

[Agapornis]

Hi guy,s

Thanks for your opinions on the seed prices, and I know seed mixes can vary from bag to bag from the same supplier as the available seed at any particular time can vary depending on what's available at the time of harvest and then passed on to the retailer, so percentages may vary from one month to month, and in drought times,but not sure that this price rise of
$20.00/ bag when others have only risen $5.00 to $10.00 a bag.

Those of us that show birds like myself can relate back to 35 years ago when Golden Cob was bagged under the name of
the Barrastock brand and was subsequently bought out by an American company I.e Uncle Toby,s and Cambells soups, than
the name change to Golden Cobb, and they were a sponsor and supporter, and still are today in supplying the Show cage
Stickers we put on our show cages at show time.

I know a lot of the budgie boy,s were big users of the Golden Cobb seed over the years, but at the price it is at the moment
I think their sails will have fallen over the past 4 months or so, while there is other suppliers around the $35.00 a bag still.

Maybe it is like you say, they are more interested in the super market chains, with boxes and bags of Trill and Harmony
Which are from the same factory. Anyway it's all interesting, and we can only see how it pans out as supplies improve.

Regards,Agapornis.

[nswchainsaw]

Llandilo produce has Avi Grain Finch Blue $34 - 20 kg and it will be coming down again in a couple of weeks.

[Pictorella]

Llandilo produce has Avi Grain Finch Blue $34 - 20 kg and it will be coming down again in a couple of weeks.

I just paid $27 for the same bag at Kirkwoods in Maitland.

[timh]

It's certainly an interesting topic of late as I know some growers are claiming to have had a bumper season up around Tamworth and Qurindi, where as the general consensus is we are in for a rough time across the board in the coming months due to tne El Nino and the resulting lack of rain. It will be interesting to observe the fluctuations and probable increases. I've cut back the amount of birds I currently keep so a 20kg bag lasts me weeks at the moment so I'm luck I guess...
We'll just have to wait and see, but if i can get a bargin at the Castle Hill bird sale I might have to buy in bulk...