Inside Feed
Fixed summer weather welcome for harvest grass and straw
The roughage trade is quite tame. There is currently more supply than demand in grass. Straw from the new crop has yet to hit the market, for which summer weather will certainly help. By-products remain reasonably in demand, partly as a replacement for relatively expensive chunks.
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Growers in France, Germany and the Netherlands have started harvesting winter barley. According to the first reports, there is a lot of straw underneath. The weather just isn't helping to clear away the straw. There is therefore little new straw available.
The DCA Indicative Price for straw has dropped slightly this week to €150 per tonne for both wheat and barley straw. This price is mainly based on batches of straw from the old harvest that were delivered in the past week. Lower prices towards €110 per tonne are quoted for new harvest with delivery 'when available'.
The market for silage maize remains stable. Trading continues quietly, according to traders. There remains quite a bit of demand for corn as a supplement to the ration, but there is no question of a peak. The DCA Indicative Price remains at €70 per tonne.
By-products remain in demand
The demand for by-products remains good. Every now and then a batch of feed potatoes comes onto the market and it is easy to find a buyer for them. The DCA Indicative Price remains at €42,50 per tonne. Other products that can be ensiled with the grass are also reasonably sought after. With spent grains, supply and demand are in balance. The price remains stable at €2,65 per percent dry matter.
Lots of grass but little demand
The grass is growing well and this is noticeable in the silage and hay trade. Most (dairy) farmers already have sufficient grass and it continues to grow well due to regular rainfall and moderate temperatures. Due to the Dutch summer, it is difficult to harvest the grass between rain showers and making hay is not easy at all.
There is little demand for silage from dairy farmers. The demand is mainly from goat farmers, for example. Prices quoted are around €60 per tonne and therefore remain the same as last week. The price of meadow hay has fallen €10 compared to last week and amounts to €170 per tonne. There is little demand for hay from agriculture. It is mainly riding schools and private individuals with horses who buy hay.
As in recent weeks, there is hardly any trade in grass seed hay. The prices quoted are around €150 per tonne. It is mainly a matter of waiting for the new harvest. Prices are expected to drop in the coming weeks. Because there is a lot of grass and several livestock farmers have mowed late, forage traders expect less interest in grass seed hay, resulting in slightly lower prices in the coming period.