Inside Feed
No turnaround in the roughage market yet
Livestock farmers remain cautious about purchasing extra roughage. According to various traders, the trade continues, but it is certainly not busy. There may not be much demand for roughage, but there is also a very limited supply of good quality feed. There is as yet no sign of a turnaround in the roughage market.
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The first plots have been mowed here and there, especially where corn needs to be sown, but there is not much grass yet. It will take some time before new grass is extracted on a large scale.
Silage grass remains expensive
According to various traders, good silage is currently difficult to obtain. What is available is quite expensive. Outliers of up to €80 per tonne delivered in the silo are mentioned for very good silage grass suitable for dairy goats. Good silage for cows generally sells slightly cheaper, but the average DCA indication price has risen slightly this week to €72,50 per tonne.
Most traders are currently trading very little in silage maize. The price is on the high side for livestock farmers and it is not yet clear to many farmers whether they have enough corn until the end of the season. The decision to buy or sell corn is therefore postponed as much as possible. The price for silage maize remains stable this week at €70 per tonne.
Demand for by-products remains generally good. The late start of the grazing season and the high prices of other protein-rich products are to blame for this. The price of spent grains remains the same this week at €2,65 per percent dry matter. Feed potatoes are only offered to a very limited extent according to most forage traders. The price this week remains the same as last week at €42,50 per tonne.
Little straw available
Straw is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain, several traders report. Supplies in France and Germany are also decreasing. The price therefore increases slightly and this week amounts to €147,50 per tonne for wheat straw. Barley straw is approximately €5 per ton cheaper from most traders.
Grass seed hay is not widely traded now. Just like with straw, stocks of this are also running out. With prices of around €150 per tonne for all breeds, there is not much interest from livestock farmers. There remains a fair amount of demand for meadow hay, but mainly from horse farming. According to some forage traders, quality is not such a big issue now, being able to deliver is more important.