Grain & Laboratory

Harlow Agricultural Merchants Ltd (HAM) is a leading independent grain merchant in East Anglia who handles all combinable crops.

Our strong links with end users in the UK and Europe enables HAM to give its growers access to both local and overseas markets, and therefore ensure the best possible home is delivered to, and the best price is achieved.

It is essential with the ever changing and volatile grain markets that the grower makes the right selling decision for their business. The HAM trading team, with the experience and contacts it has, is able to help growers make those decisions.

HAM offer specialist buy back contracts on a number of crops, including HOLL Oilseed Rape (High Oleic Low Linoleic). This specific fatty acid profile that exists in HOLL benefits food processors, and consumers.

Also available are HEAR Oilseed Rape (High Erucic Acid Rape) contracts, which produces an oil ideal for industrial use.

To help growers with managing risk and providing as many marketing options as possible, HAM offer the following :

Buy Back Contracts
Futures & Option Contracts
Specialist Seed Contracts
Tracker Funds
Long & Short Pools
Supply Contracts

All grain marketing activities are insured through Coface UK – credit insurance underwriters, giving growers comfort that in the unlikely event of failure of one of our mill partners, the grain payment is secured.

Harlow Agricultural Merchants has an in-house laboratory and experienced trained staff who are able assist growers and give them an independent analysis of their product. Whether it just an analysis to make sure your product fit the end home requirements or your planning to farm save the seed and need to check the germination we are able to help.

If you require a special test on your seed that does not appear in the table above please contact the seed department who will try to arrange the test on your behalf.

Offering a range of services:

Test	Species	Sample Weight	Length of Test
Germination	All Species	500grams	10 - 12 days
Vitascope (Quick Germination)	All Cereals (Untreated)	250 Grams	2 Days
Tetrazolium (Diagnostice Germination)	All Cereals (Treated orUntreated)	250 Grams	4 Days
Moisture	All Species	1kg	next day
Hagberg	Wheat	1kg	next day
Protein	Wheat	1kg	next day
Bushel Weight	Wheat/Barley	1kg	next day
Nitrogen	Barley	1kg	next day
Screenings	Wheat/Barley	1kg	next day
Trousand Grain Weight	All Species	500gms	next day
Ascochyta	Beans	1kg	12-14 days
Stem Nematode	Beans	1kg	4 days
Admixture	All Species	500gms	next day
Mycotoxins	Wheat/Barley	500gms	2 days
Don / Zon	Cereals	500gms	next day
Oil Test	Oilseed Rape	500gms	10-12 Days
Erucic acid	Oilseed Rape	500gms	10-12 Days

* Vitascope test will not detect drying damage or desiccant damage.
Prices for seed tests are available upon request.

Working closely with end buyers, processors and PGRO Harlow Agricultural Merchants have investigated and developed several niche markets within the pulse arena and taken through to commercial success.

Processors & Growers Research Organisation (PGRO)We offer attractive buy-back contracts for all pea types (Yellow/Whites, Large Blues, small Blues and Marrowfats), finding a contract specification that suits the grower and is realistic about what the grower can achieve.

We trade feed beans for the domestic and export markets while human consumption beans for export (both spring and winter) are placed into a number of homes with consideration given to the specification required.

Pulse trading requires attention to detail and HAM’s motto “small enough to care, big enough to serve” encompasses what is required to find the best home at the best price for any parcel of beans or peas.