Pat Hull, first-time silage supplier
When Patrick Hull bought Weebergong in 2022, he inherited roughly 1,000 tonnes of silage buried in pits across the property. For two years, the mounds of dirt sat on his driveway – an eyesore he wasn’t sure what to do with. But when feed shortages hit hard, Pat listed the silage on LocalAg.
Within hours, buyers from multiple states were reaching out. As the truckloads left for Victoria Pat reflects that the experience has him rethinking his entire approach to risk management.
Weebergong sits about 25 kilometres west of Gulargambone, part of a third-generation farming story that began when Pat’s grandfather arrived from Sydney after being injured in the war.
“My grandfather came out here after the war and worked on a property at Coonamble called Carwell Station,” Pat explains. “He and another bloke bought a mob of sheep together and made a bit of money, and he was able to put enough money together to get a deposit for a property west of Coonamble, out near Corinda.”
The family built their operation through the decades, with Hull’s father and grandfather expanding through the 80s and 90s to about 8,500 acres. In 2020, Pat and his brother split the properties – his brother taking the grazing country, Patrick taking the cropping land.
“I was cured of livestock,” Pat laughs. “We used to come home from boarding school in the early 2000s, and Dad had saved up all the cattle work for us. Yeah, I was cured of it from a young age.”
Today, Pat and his family focus exclusively on grain: canola, wheat, barley, and occasionally legumes. Weebergong, purchased in 2022, was converted from grazing to a no-till farming operation.
“This year is probably the first time we’re recognising the work we’ve put into it,” he says.
The Silage Discovery
The silage came with the property – about 1,000 tonnes of forage sorghum and oaten hay, ensiled in 2020 during early drought-breaking rains by the previous owner who used the property as a fattening block.
“When we bought the place, they marketed it with the place because there was a significant amount there,” Pat recalls. “We knew it was there. We’d had it in the back of our mind, but we weren’t really sure what to do with it.”
The uncertainty was real. Buried for two to three years, would the silage still be good? Was it worth opening the pits?
Pat tracked down the contractor who’d done the original work, who provided valuable reassurance. “He was really good with information, and from all accounts, he was a well-regarded contractor.”
The Marketing Challenge
As feed shortages intensified in southern states, he saw his window. But he faced a dilemma: should he open a pit without knowing if he could find buyers? Or market it before knowing the quality?
He chose a creative middle path.
“We got some photos off the contractor who did the job of it going in,” Pat explains. “So we actually advertised it before we opened a pit up because we had this awkward time where we weren’t sure if it was going to be any good, but we didn’t want to go to the trouble of opening a pit up if we couldn’t get a market for it.”
Using the original photos showing quality product going into the ground, hel listed the silage on LocalAg.
Finding the Right Price
With no experience in haylage marketing, pricing was guesswork initially.
“We just threw a number out there, and we didn’t get much interest. So obviously it was a bit dear,” Pat says. “We pulled the price down, and that generated more interest.”
He learned that silage pricing differs from hay, being more dependent on moisture content. “Once we got the price range right, we got a lot of interest.”
The LocalAg Experience
Pat’s path to LocalAg was driven by trust built during tough times.
“We dealt with Feed Central in the drought in 2018 and 19,” he explains. “So, initially I went looking for Feed Central and came across Feed Central’s LocalAg. That’s how the current relationship started.”
Simple Setup, Broad Reach
The process proved remarkably straightforward:
Getting Started:
- Contacted the team at LocalAg for guidance
- Set up the app in about five minutes
- Grabbed a few photos and wrote a description
- Listed and started getting interest within hours
The Response:
- Buyers across multiple regions
- All communication managed through the app
- No phone number publicly visible
- Written records of all agreements
“It reached a really broad audience of people,” Patrick says. “I had contact from people in South Australia, Victoria, all over the place.”
The Protected Communication Advantage
For Pat, one of LocalAg’s biggest benefits was controlled communication.
“Your phone number’s not out there. Everything’s written down. The agreement is all there for everyone to see. There’s no grey areas,” he explains. “There’s no ‘you said this’ or ‘you said that.'”
The contrast with other platforms was stark: “Through Facebook Marketplace, you might get 20 phone calls in a day, and you just don’t have time to handle it. With LocalAg, you could respond to stuff as it suited you. You weren’t getting caught off guard.”
Opening the Pits
With solid buyer interest secured, Pat brought in an excavator and opened three of the six or seven pits on the property.
The silage quality exceeded expectations. Because it had only been buried for two to three years (versus the 20-year timeline some producers plan for), most bales retained their integrity.
“We’ve been able to pull it out and draft off any bales that are a bit ordinary and keep the ones that have still got their integrity,” Pat says. “The first truck went down to Victoria.”
Changing the Risk Profile
The experience has Pat rethinking his entire approach to opportunistic cropping.
“We’ve always steered away from [baling crops] because from a marketing point of view, it’s a lot more difficult to market hay than grain,” he explains. “You have to have contacts, and you’ve got to know where to go.”
Before LocalAg:
- Focused exclusively on grain
- Avoided hay/silage due to marketing challenges
- Limited risk management options mid-season
After LocalAg:
- Considering cereal hay as a viable option
- Direct-to-buyer access without merchants
- Better positioned for frost, moisture, or weed situations
“LocalAg is a really simple way to reach buyers,” He says. “Going forward, if there is a situation, we might think more seriously about baling some barley or something like that. It does open up a few more opportunities for us going forward.”
Expanding Product Range
Pat’s already thinking beyond opportunistic hay production.
“We would like to see an opportunity to probably market more of our feed grains on LocalAg – barley, or perhaps feed wheat,” he says.
The platform’s simplicity makes direct marketing viable: “We can sell direct to anyone through an app like LocalAg, without having to find a merchant to sell it for us.”
Looking Forward
As his remaining silage pits await buyers and his 2025 crops develop, the LocalAg experience has fundamentally changed his operation’s flexibility.
“I’m happy with the whole experience overall,” he says. “It spreads your risk in a number of different areas. If you’re starting to run out of moisture you’ve got an opportunity to make something work.”
For a third-generation grain grower who swore off livestock work in boarding school, that buried treasure on the driveway turned out to be more than just old silage – it was a gateway to rethinking what’s possible in modern grain operations.
Would you use LocalAg again?
“I’d definitely use it again, yeah, for sure.”
Patrick Hull’s experience demonstrates how digital platforms are breaking down traditional barriers in agricultural marketing, giving grain producers new tools for risk management and opportunistic income. His first load heading to Victoria represents not just a successful sale, but a proof of concept that’s already reshaping how he thinks about future seasons.