Soon straw will be more expensive than meadow hay

There is now only a difference of €5 per tonne between the indicative prices of DCA for meadow hay and straw (wheat and barley). Straw prices rose further last week to €185 per tonne, while meadow hay had fallen back to €190 per tonne a week earlier. This week the prices remain unchanged. 

However, insiders believe that straw prices have not yet reached their ceiling. It could well be that prices will continue to climb towards €200 per tonne in the coming months and perhaps even higher. In any case, it seems a matter of time before straw overtakes meadow hay in price, because there is usually more than enough supply of this. In fact, this market is rather under pressure. In 2018, straw was also briefly just as expensive as meadow hay, but in the years that followed there was always a large price gap that can also be logically explained. 

More willingness to deliver now than later
The supply of straw is and remains very limited, although this is currently being camouflaged by the fact that arable farmers in France are keen to supply at this time of year. Especially since the prices they can get are historically exceptionally good. The willingness to supply will probably change when the field work starts again soon, a trader warns. After all, (French) arable farmers will have other priorities than loading straw then. They often want to have their barns empty before then. Before the French grain harvest starts again in July, there are still several months to bridge in which straw prices may rise further. The motto of traders is therefore not to wait with building up straw stocks, despite the fact that they do not want to push livestock farmers to higher costs. After all, straw is already expensive enough these days, or so the thinking goes.

There is indeed the option of getting straw from Spain, but that is an expensive affair due to the long transport distances. Closer to home, in Germany, straw is also hard to find. It is even the case that German livestock farmers in border regions buy on the Dutch market, something that happened sporadically in previous years.

No movement in silage maize
The market for silage maize is clearly less exciting. The price remains the same this week at €90 per tonne, which is slightly above the long-term average. That the yield of silage maize in the Netherlands last year was the lowest since at least 2010, is not a price-increasing factor at the moment. Perhaps this will become a problem later in the season when the silage plates come more into view.

Stable brewers grain prices
Beer grains are also stable in price, at €3,75 per percent dry matter. In the north of the Netherlands, prices are slightly higher due to transport distances. Sales are slightly calmer than a few months ago, but supply is not (yet) putting pressure on prices. This may still happen when breweries scale up production for carnival. This is not yet the case at the moment. Historically, prices often fall in the spring, as is also evident from long-term market developments. 

The fact that less beer is consumed in the Netherlands (and therefore less is brewed) does not affect the daily market. At the same time, there are also fewer animals to feed due to the shrinking livestock.

Click here to view the roughage prices in the Database.