Feed prices find their way up

Last week it turned out that there more question for silage maize and that demand has increased even faster this week. Due to the ongoing drought livestock farmers buy large stocks. "I recently had orders from 300 to 400 tons," says a trader. The livestock farmers hope to have sufficient stock to withstand the dry period.

In addition, some traders say that the livestock farmers expect that the maize yields may be disappointing this year, because of the dryness. The price of silage maize therefore rises by €5 to €60 per tonne free at the farm.

New straw: price rising rather than falling
Starting this week, there will only be traded in new straw. However, this product is slightly less in demand than the other products. This is mainly due to the fact that livestock farmers are currently looking for products with a higher nutritional value.

It has no negative effect on the price, because the first prices for new straw amount to €115 per tonne free on the farm, which means that the start of the season has higher prices than last year in this period. It should be noted that the prices in the north of the country are higher (€120 per tonne) than in the south (€105 per tonne), which is often due to the transport distance.

Most new straw is sourced from France, but because of the big question part is already being taken from Spain. However, traders report that it is not always easy to get the straw to the Netherlands. "The farmers there are also hesitant. One farmer wants to wait until his own barn is full and the other is only too happy to sell it," says a forage trader. However, it is indicated that the prices here are rising rather than falling.

(Text continues below the chart)The price of silage maize has set off a sharp rise. Do that too?

Little demand for meadow hay
There is currently little demand for it meadow hay, which makes trading difficult to describe. According to various traders, this demand mainly comes from the horse industry. In addition, stories are circulating that the quality of the new harvest is very good. This means that the first prices are around €160 per tonne free from the farm.

There is also little demand for perennial ryegrass at the moment. The new harvest has started, which makes it difficult to give a good price indication. The price quoted most often is €120 per tonne free from farm. However, there is a difference between the different regions in the Netherlands. In Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, for example, there would be a lot of demand for perennial rye grass (mainly for high quality).

In addition, there is not much more demand for silage grass, which means that the price remains at €45 per tonne free from the farm. It should be noted, however, that quality is very decisive, which means that sometimes more is paid for excellent quality.

Products available again
Since this week, Rietzwenk, Roodzwenk and Veldbeemd are also available again. Several traders report that these products start the season with a high price. For the first Roodzwenk, for example, about €140 per tonne free farm is paid, the price for Rietzwenk comes to €135 per tonne free farm and for Veldbeemd €155 is deposited per tonne free farm.

Also the price of brewer's grain is rising. The price of this product had already set off an increase last week, but is now taking it one step further. The price for this week is € 2,10 per percent dry matter. In addition, traders report that this is mainly due to the dry weather. Due to the drought, the cows produce less milk, so farmers choose to give additional feed.

Feed potatoes are in demand
Incidentally, there also appears to be a lot of interest in feed potatoes, because some traders report that they no longer have any product available. Those who still have feed potatoes report that the price is rising. The price for this week is €27 per tonne free from farm.The price of feed potatoes is almost back to the level of April 2018.