Despite the persistently low wheat prices, the pool price of Pars Granen from Sint Jacobiparochie has not suffered as a result. The price ends €0,50 below last season and the price of milling wheat even ends above the result of the 2016 harvest.
In the long storage pool (with advance payment) for feed wheat, Pars Granen pays a net price of €147,50 per tonne. Without an advance, growers can add €3 on top of the price, which amounts to €150,50 net. Costs for collection (€7) and storage (€8,90) have already been deducted from this. The result does not differ significantly from the harvest before.
The pool price of Wadden wheat amounts to €150,50 per tonne and is with advance payment. This concerns milling wheat with a protein content between 11% and 12%. Of the total volume, 30% could be sold as milling wheat. Pars is satisfied with the quality across the board.
Barley market
For feed barley, Pars pays €144,50 per tonne, including advance payment. That is €11 per ton above the 2016 harvest year, which has to do with the pricing of barley. "In 2016, the barley price was €10 below the level of wheat for a long time," says director Jelte Pars. "In 2017, the price was almost the same as wheat, due to tightness in the market. About 95% of our volume concerns winter barley. Spring barley is mainly used in our area (North Friesland and Groningen) as a gap filler in the crop plan. Due to the In the wet autumn, more spring barley was sown this spring. The wheat area remains stable this season."
The grain collector tries to sell wheat locally where possible. For example at various mills, or as a crushed product for livestock farming. "Friesland has many dairy farmers who include wheat in their rations," says Pars. "The grain trade is transparent and also a global market. You may be able to earn a little more by selling locally, but there is not much room. If a type of grain is too expensive, buyers will switch to a price-favorable alternative."
The pool remains unchanged for the 2018 harvest. This also applies to the bonus system, which Pars has been using for a number of years now. Anyone who supplies 200 to 500 tons receives a €1 per ton bonus. For 500 to 1.000 tons this is €1,50 and companies that supply more than 1.000 tons of grain receive an extra €2 per ton.
Harvest a week earlier
Pars is cautious about statements about the coming season. "About 2 to 3 weeks ago we were still trading for €170 per tonne. That price is now no longer feasible," he knows from experience. "The drought does have an effect on the grain harvest in Northern Germany and Eastern Europe and the combines are already running there. That is not out of luxury. In the Netherlands it has not yet had an effect on the yield; certainly not on clay soil. Due to the warm weather The grain harvest is expected to start 1 week earlier."