Growers are voting with their wheat, according to WA grain handlers CBH Group, with figures indicating that more than 70 per cent of total tonnages received so far this harvest have gone into warehousing, or to the CBH Group wheat pool.
Industry sources estimate the current AWB 2006-07 national wheat pool receival tonnage at between 7-8 per cent of the forecast 4 million tonnes expected to be pooled this season, which equates to around 300,000 tonnes.
AWB could not confirm wheat volumes it had received to date.
CBH Group says it has received a total of 2.1 million tonnes, of which around 70 per cent, or 1.4 million tonnes, is wheat.
CBH Group general manager operations Colin Tutt said growers were holding off on making marketing decisions until they were more certain of where they would receive the best return for their grain.
"This is a reflection of the fact that growers are uncertain about which marketing strategy they should apply," he said.
AWB's Peter McBride said that AWB had provided security to its pool participants by protecting them against any legal costs incurred through the Cole Inquiry, lowering the base fee for managing the 2006-07 national pool by 40 per cent and capping its potential out-performance fee to $2/t.
But that didn't wash with Liberal backbencher Wilson Tuckey, who said wheat growers using the national grain pool had no more guarantee of money than those once insured by HIH.
"There are 6,000 to 7,000 registered wheat growers in WA, most of whom never attended a rally or voted for AWB Ltd Directors, however when put to the test by a better price offer they have voted with their grain production and they don't want to gift it to AWBi," he said.
