Lots of grass on the market, when will new straw be available?

Livestock farmers are trying to survive as much as possible until the new grain harvest starts and fresh straw comes onto the market, which is expected to cause prices to drop. That is a well-known phenomenon in this period.

Not keen on silage grass
Livestock farmers have gained a lot of grass so far. Given the current weather forecasts, a good crop appears to be growing in the coming period. Farmers assume that they have plenty of silage supplies and are not interested in buying silage at the moment.

This is clearly noticeable in the trade. There just isn't much business being done. The price has gone down, but otherwise the price of silage will not drop. Prices quoted for good silage grass are around €60 per tonne.

New meadow hay was already in abundance on the market last week and due to the good hay weather until last Thursday, a lot was added. According to several traders, it is early in the season that hay has already been cut on a large scale in the Netherlands. Coarse natural/unfertilized hay will have to wait a while. The DCA Indicative Price for meadow hay remains the same as last week at €180 per tonne.

Waiting for new harvest
Straw is difficult to obtain and remains expensive. The season for the old harvest is coming to an end and most livestock farmers are waiting for the new harvest. Due to the good harvest forecasts for grains, insiders also expect good straw yields and falling prices. Some traders expect the first barley straw from France and Germany within a few weeks. Until then, the market will remain tight. The DCA Indicative Price for wheat and barley straw therefore remains the same as last week at €155 per tonne.

The same applies to grass seed hay as to straw: little trade and waiting for the new harvest. Traders are selling the last stocks if this has not already happened. The DCA Indicative Price remains at €150 per tonne. It should be noted that very little trading was done.

Little demand for corn
The silage maize trade is quiet. Many livestock farmers have been busy in the grass in recent weeks and were not interested in driving over a corn pit. The relatively high price of silage maize does not exactly stimulate the purchasing desire among livestock farmers. It is not that there is no trade, but it is not busy. The DCA Indicative Price for silage maize remains at €70 per tonne. For moderate potholes, €10 per tonne less is easily charged.

Feed potatoes are not widely offered. There is good demand for potatoes from the chip industry and there are virtually no problem lots that are sold in feed. The supply of rejected or leftover seed potatoes is also almost gone. The DCA Indicative Price remains at €42,50 per tonne.

The demand for spent grain remains fairly stable. Partly due to the high (concentrated) feed prices, spent grain remains a popular addition to the ration. The DCA Indicative Price for spent grain remains the same as last week at €2,65 per percent dry matter.