The sun shines (at times) but it just doesn't want to be really spring weather with a bit of temperature. It is best to start with grass silage, but it will continue to steal between the showers. The fact that spring work is not going according to plan is also noticeable on the forage market, but the top is now off.
The supply of good food remains tight. It is not very busy in the roughage trade either. This is partly because livestock farmers are busier with the first cut of grass, manure driving, plowing and other preparations for the corn. There is no rush to sow corn yet, because it is still on the cold side for that. What is also not helping the forage trade is the downward trend in milk prices. Feed may have peaked a bit, but the amounts you are talking about are still significant. "If the milk price yields almost a third, farmers will calm down," said a trader.
It is difficult to predict what is happening on the by-products market at the moment. The grain market is in a downward trend and that is partly pulling down the products directly derived from it. But for example, potato products such as steam peels or chips do not or hardly fall in price. The DCA Indicative Price for spent grain has fallen below €4 this week and amounts to €3,90 per percent dry matter. Feed potatoes are only available in limited quantities. The DCA Indicative Price remains at €60 per tonne.
Little grass silage
Silage grass is and remains difficult to obtain, although there is demand. Some buyers cannot or do not want to wait until grass from the new harvest becomes available. According to traders, livestock farmers who normally have plenty of roughage inquire little about options for selling good silage. We can say that the silos do not have to be emptied for the new cut, and the quality of what does come onto the market is often poor. The DCA Indicative Price for good silage grass takes a step back this week and amounts to €105 per tonne. It must be noted that there is little trade. It is also quiet in the silage maize. Some work is being done, but most customers are too busy and prefer to postpone it for a while. The DCA Indicative Price remains the same as last week at €115 per tonne.
There is no shortage of straw available. There is quite a bit in the sheds in France, but a large part of it has already been promised or arable farmers are asking a lot of money for it. The DCA Indicative Price for both wheat and barley straw is €145 per tonne. There is only limited trade in hay at the moment. Some livestock farmers do buy some grass seed or meadow hay to supplement grass silage that is on the wet side, but these are large volumes. Prices remain unchanged from last week at €190 for meadow hay and €145 to €155 for grass seed hay, depending on the variety.