What does Agrifirm grain pool do in extreme year?

Agrifirm Plant has 2 different grain pools. The basic pool – where growers deliver their grains at harvest – and the storage pool. The former sells wheat for 12 months, between May and May. The product is sold in the storage pool, where growers store their wheat themselves, during the winter and spring months.

Baking and feed wheat prices
The price of baking wheat in the basic pool without advances for the 2019-2020 season is €162,20 per ton without advances. In the storage pool this is €182,20 per tonne on January. Growers who store for a long time may add a €3,50 storage fee. For feed wheat, the prices in both pools are €2 per tonne lower: €160,20 and €180,20 per tonne. These prices are at a lower level than one year earlier. At that time, the cooperative paid a basic price of €181,20 for feed and €183,20 for baking wheat in the basic pool.

Malting barley in a minor key
Due to a favorable market, malting barley managed to achieve a positive result in the past 2 harvest years. Compared to wheat, which was heavily stocked due to the corona crisis, barley has been hit hard. Beer consumption has fallen enormously due to the absence of events and the closure of the catering industry. "From January there has been oversupply on the barley market," says Aart den Bakker of Agrifirm. "We were only able to make a plus in pre-sales and around the harvest."

This market situation means that the brewing premium paid out this year amounts to a maximum of €14 per tonne, compared to €20 a year earlier. This premium brings the price per ton of malting barley to €160,50 without advance payment and €163,60 with advance payment. That price is 15% lower than it was a year earlier.

Turbulent season
Cooperative members receive €3,50 member benefit per tonne of grain in addition to the prices mentioned. This is €1 per tonne more than in 2019. The interest payment is slightly lower, at €3,10 per tonne. Agrifirm wants to generate stability for participants with their pools. "We work with partnerships for this, which are spread over several years," Den Bakker explains. "We have already laid a foundation for the 2020 harvest. The market can currently be called healthy. At the beginning of this year it was very different. Then the world was heading for a large wheat harvest. Due to drought and corona - from February - it is now vote is coming. It's a different story for barley. The coronavirus is throwing a major spanner in the works there. After a wet autumn, the area of ​​summer barley has expanded considerably in Europe. The coming harvest is therefore estimated to be much larger, which is negative for the pricing."

Wheat yield significantly lower
The ultimate impact of the current drought on grain yields is still unknown. Agrifirm takes significantly lower yields into account. The start was far from ideal and a frost-free winter is also unfavorable for winter wheat. Then it became dry until now. This does not bring forward the grain harvest, Den Bakker thinks. “The wheat comes into the ear at the usual time.”