It is maize that counts in the roughage trade. And this means that the by-products that are suitable for covering are also in great demand. For straw, it is the bulb growers who are pulling it at the moment.
Patience is a virtue. Keeping patience until the corn has matured sufficiently, especially if the neighbor remains busy, is difficult. The differences are quite large according to insiders. Previous plots are simply good and pass the 35% dry matter. However, there is also corn that should have been left for another week or perhaps two, but which has already been chopped and now has a dry matter content of 32% to 33%. For sellers of standing corn, it is a tough sell at the moment. Prices above €3.000 per hectare are now out of the question. Around €2.500 is realistic. The neighbor or local contractor may pay a little more because they can keep the transport costs in their pocket, and a forage dealer may pay slightly less. In Belgium, hectare prices (whether or not for the dual-purpose varieties) are several hundred euros lower, but then transport takes a harder hit.
The DCA Indicative Price for silage maize delivered to the silage plate remains the same this week as last week at €75 per tonne. However, the market feels firmer than last week and in areas that are less favorable in terms of transport, €80 also counts for good corn.
With the corn harvest in full swing, there is also a relatively high demand for by-products. There it is only a problem with two major producers. Avebe and Cosun are experiencing setbacks in the factories with both pressed fibers from the starch industry and pressed pulp from the sugar industry. Brewers have also slowed down a notch and this is noticeable in the supply of spent grains. However, demand for spent grain remains strong. The DCA Indicative Price therefore takes a step up and amounts to €4 per percent of dry matter.
Potato prices have been under considerable pressure in recent weeks and a number of quality problems have been reported. However, this is not yet noticeable in the supply of feed potatoes. There is still no supply of decent feed potatoes, according to traders. The DCA Indicative Price remains stable at €60 per tonne. Some traders note that there is a relatively large supply of carrots for feed.
It must be good
In the straw trade, it is the bulb growers who provide extra demand. And that turns out to be critical customers too. "Color doesn't matter, but you have to put long, dry pressed straw in the field, otherwise you can just take it back," says a forage trader. The DCA Indicative Price for both wheat and barley straw this week amounts to €130 per tonne. However, price differences in straw remain large. In the South of the Netherlands, prices of €125 for wheat straw are common, while in the North there is little good straw for sale below €140 per tonne.
It is quiet in hay and silage grass. Quite a bit of grass has grown in recent weeks and that has reduced demand somewhat. For good silage from a first or second cut, you need stoppers, according to insiders. The DCA Indicative Price for silage grass is €100, but here too the price differences are large. Late fall grass is around $80 while spring grass is well over $100. The DCA indicative prices for meadow and grass seed hay remain unchanged at €190 and €160 per tonne respectively.