News Countus Arable Farm Index
Has arable yield peaked?
The Countus Arable Farm Index has been declining again since the beginning of February, after reaching its second highest point of the 1/2018 season. This has to do with the falling potato and wheat prices.
In week 6, which is the first full week of February, the Countus arable index a height of 136,6 points. Only in week 1 did the Index come out even higher, when the level was 137,1 points. In the 3 weeks that followed, the barometer lost 7,3 points.
potato price
The price of seed potatoes of the Bintje variety has been falling since February, but the influence of this is small; in particular, the April contract on the futures market drives the Index downward. The level at the beginning of February (€32,90 per 100 kilos) could no longer be maintained during the month. On the last day of February, the price dropped below €30, which is visible in the Index.
The onion price remained stable during the month. Beurs Emmeloord quotes €30 per 60 kilos for the 40% to 100% coarse onions. The wheat price has dropped slightly and is now just below the level of €200 per tonne. The price was also higher in the first half of the month.
Interesting month
The month of March will be an interesting month for the Arable Farm Index. Will a downward trend remain visible, or will the market take a different turn? The extremely early spring has been postponed for the time being, which may affect prices. Despite this, the figure remains at a relatively high level, although only a small group really benefits from this.
Niels van der Boom
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