ABC RURAL
16/03/2007
A group of corn growers in southern New South Wales are locked in a battle with multi-national grain company Cargill over unfulfilled contracts.
The growers signed agreements in July to supply gritting corn to make cornflakes and chips but some will not be able to deliver and now face a bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Growers are blaming unexpected cuts to water allocations for the reduced corn production and say they should not have to wear the cost of a Government decision.
Darlington Point farmer Matt Toscan says farmers will be getting a huge bill in a year of drought.
"A lot of crops were abandoned, people with contracts that can't fill any tonnes at all, going into several thousands of tonnes," he said.
But Cargill has contracts of its own to supply the corn to an end user.
The company says it has tried to work with producers by offering an opportunity to pay less money now in return for supplying corn at a discounted price in coming years.
