The mood within the roughage market keeps falling back into the same pattern. The rain makes it quite difficult for many. "Things could go in the wrong direction because of the wetness," an insider noted. When will this wet weather end?
Livestock farmers are forced to stick to the winter ration for longer. Last week it started to dry in the country, but last Monday a lot of rain fell again. Partly because of this, the demand for silage maize is increasing somewhat. The demand is good while there is no more supply. It of course depends on how the growing season continues, but it would not surprise some traders if corn becomes even more expensive in the near future. The DCA Indication Price remains stable this week at €100 per tonne.
In straw it is not the busiest time of the year. Quality straw is not available now. This is a result of the wet weather during the 2023 harvest. It is a bit tight with limited availability of good golden straw. The new harvest is coming, but we still have to continue with the 2023 harvest for a few weeks. Sometime at the end of this month or early next month, the first winter barley will be dried in France. Dutch traders are also largely dependent on straw from France for straw from the shed. The DCA Indicative Price for wheat and barley straw remains the same at €155 per tonne.
No hay weather
It hasn't been good hay weather yet. A week of dry weather with at least a few really sharp drying days is a requirement for making hay. The DCA Indicative Price for meadow hay this week amounts to €200 per tonne. There is not much interest in grass seed hay. Farmers find it too expensive compared to, for example, feed straw. The fact that grass seed hay is expensive is because there is hardly any supply left. The DCA Indication Price remains stable at €185 per tonne.
Opinions differ about silage grass. For example, one group of forage traders is very pleased with the quality and indicates that it all wants to go. 'Nice stuff.' Others indicate that the market is not exactly wild, but that it continues reasonably well. The DCA Indicative Price increases by €5 to €85 per tonne.
Feed potatoes are practically unavailable according to insiders. If they are available, they are very expensive. The processing industry can use just about anything that still resembles a potato, which means there is hardly any loss of feed. The DCA Indicative Price remains at €60 per tonne.
The time when it was a push for suppliers to give beer spent grain a place is behind us. Partly due to the European Football Championship, the breweries have been working extra this spring, according to some sources, because quite a lot of beer is consumed during a football tournament. But the beer for the European Championship has been brewed, so that probably no longer has a major effect on the supply of spent grain. Some suppliers report that waiting times are increasing somewhat. Partly due to the problems with grazing due to the wet weather and a slow transition to a summer ration, there is quite a lot of interest in spent grain. The DCA Indicative Price remains stable at €3 per percent dry matter.