The hot and dry weather of last week has made way for cooler and showery weather in recent days. However, the drought remains the main topic in the roughage market. The growth of the grass is gone and livestock farmers are anxiously waiting to see how the maize continues to grow. This means that farmers are careful with offerings of feed that may be left over.
The straw trade is gaining momentum. It is still quiet in the north of the country, but in the south there is already plenty of straw available. Straw is also available from France and Germany. Straw from the old harvest is almost gone at most traders. A dip in the price around the harvest has not yet occurred and is not expected. Normally the price drops by €10 or €15 during this period, but now the price of the new harvest remains the same as the old harvest. The costs for transport and pressing have risen, partly due to expensive diesel. In addition, arable farmers are happy to use the chopper due to the high fertilizer prices. The DCA Indicative Price for wheat and barley straw remains at €130 per tonne.
Interest in grass seed hay varies widely among traders. One notices that after a few seasons with a lot of moderate grass seed hay, livestock farmers stick to hammered Spanish straw. Other forage traders notice that customers are switching back to grass seed hay due to the price difference with Spanish straw. The good conditions during the grass seed harvest also contribute to this. The quality of the grass seed hay is generally good this season. The DCA Indicative Price for grass seed hay ranges from €125 per tonne for English rye to €140 for red fescue.
Beer spent grain remains in demand
The demand for by-products is picking up somewhat. Due to the relatively high milk price, livestock farmers try to keep enough milk available to the cows, even now that the grass is growing only moderately in various places. To this end, supplementation of the ration with by-products is being considered. The supply of potato products is not available due to the usual seasonal stop of the processing industry. Feed potatoes are also only available to a limited extent. The DCA Indicative Price for feed potatoes remains at €45 per tonne. The price for spent grain is cautiously increasing due to increasing demand. The DCA Indicative Price this week is €3,60 per percent dry matter.
There is only limited trade in silage maize. Livestock farmers with little or no silage of their own buy maize from whatever else they do. However, large lots of corn are difficult to find. There are still some offers coming out. You just notice that livestock farmers are careful about selling, according to traders. "Selling at an expensive price now is fun, but if the drought lasts longer and you have to buy even more expensively next fall, the fun will stop," said a trader. The DCA Indication for corn is €85 per tonne.
The trade in grass silage and meadow hay is very quiet. With silage grass, it is mainly the supply that has collapsed. The grass is standing still in many places due to the high temperatures and moderate precipitation, and this is noticeable. The DCA Indicative Price for silage this week is €75 per tonne. It is precisely the demand for meadow hay that is limited. There is sufficient supply. There is still hay from last year and a lot of hay has also been extracted in recent weeks. The DCA Indicative Price remains the same as last week at €175 per tonne.