Meadow hay price takes a big step up

Where the price of meadow hay last week remained stable at €190 per tonne franco-farm, the price showed a sharp increase this week. The price rises by €30 to €220 per tonne franco farm, which means that the price is currently well above the level of recent years. It is expected that the price ceiling has not yet been reached, because sellers hold onto the product. This is because they expect the product to deliver even more.

The traders report that there are 2 more reasons for the rising price. First of all, Dutch livestock farmers would start to worry about the winter stocks, so they decide to buy feed after all (the price then comes in second place). The second reason is that there is increasing demand from abroad. Mainly Scandinavian countries, who themselves are struggling with a roughage shortage, are interested in meadow hay from the Netherlands. 

(Text continues below the chart)The price shows a different movement this season than in previous seasons.

Waiting for the new harvest
Various traders report that livestock farmers are fully inquiring about silage maize from the new harvest. This means that product from the old harvest is no longer very popular. There is still trade here and there, but the price has his peak already had. This means that the price for old-harvest silage maize remains at €72,50 per tonne free on the farm. 

As mentioned above, Dutch livestock farmers are fully inquiring about the price of new crops. However, it is difficult for traders to give prices already. "We'll have to wait and see what the quality will do," various traders say. "The good quality will get expensive, but what the price of the bad quality is going to do is really coffee grounds."

The first cautious price indication comes out at €1,80 to €1,90 per percent dry matter (ex-farm). However, this trader also indicates that the market is reporting bizarre prices at the moment. "I've heard prices ranging from $1.600 to $3.000 per hectare. That's bizarre." Another trader says that high prices are not a certainty at all. "If there is a lot of supply from the arable sector, the market can collapse in one go."

Beer grain increasingly expensive
Another product that is in high demand is brewer's grain. The product has already risen sharply in price in recent weeks, but has not yet reached the price ceiling. The traders say that various breweries have been shut down for the past 2 weeks, so that delivery times have only increased (at least 5 weeks). This has disrupted the balance between supply and demand.

The price remained stable last week at € 2,40 per percent dry matter, but managed to rise this week to € 2,70 per percent dry matter. "The price may continue to rise in the near future. The supply is simply not enough to meet the demand," said a trader.

(Text continues below the chart)The price of brewer's grains has shown a significant increase in the past six months.

Straw price continues to rise
The various forage traders indicate that there are still a lot of demand is to straw. That is why some choose to temporarily not sell anything and thus deliver everything first. This makes a price increase unavoidable, and that increase brings the price to € 130 per tonne free on farm (both for barley and wheat straw).

A lot of straw is currently also being removed from the United Kingdom imported, which is especially attractive due to the low position of the British pound (against the euro). In addition, it is almost impossible to get straw from France. The French livestock farmers keep their product and/or hoard for straw themselves. This is because they are afraid that they will soon find themselves with shortages.

The price of perennial ryegrass also shows an increase. Here, too, the sellers choose to hold onto the product. This means that the price rises by €15 to €155 per tonne franco farm. In addition, traders let it be known that this high price causes little trade, so there is a chance that the price will fall again in the long term.

Silage is the only thing product which shows a drop in price, but it should be noted that the price of this product has been fluctuating for weeks. Last week the market showed an outlier to €60 per tonne free-at-farm, but this week the price is back at the familiar level of €50 per tonne free-at-farm. 

(Text continues below the chart)The price of silage grass is back at the familiar level of €50 per tonne.

Sparsely available
There is still little trade in red fescue and reed fescue, which has allowed this price to change. The price of red fescue has risen from €140 to €150 per tonne free at the farm. The rise for reed fescue is slightly more substantial. This product increases from €135 to €150 per tonne free of charge at the farm. Since only a small amount of product is available, the price is not expected to rise further.

Traders also report that field meadow and feed potatoes are almost sold out. The prices for these products will remain at €155 and €40 per tonne free on farm, respectively.