It is not the busiest time in the forage trade. Hay and straw are flowing well, but corn and silage have sometimes been busier around this time of year, according to traders. After a few turbulent weeks, the solid by-products enter calmer waters.
Spring doesn't want to come loose yet. The temperature is there, it just doesn't want to get dry. Here and there the grass is already too long to spread manure. Some farmers have therefore decided to mow. Cattle farmers seem confident that we will have an early first cut this year. Some forage traders notice that there is more silage on offer. In general, it is just not the best grass that livestock farmers want to sell. Demand for grass silage remains limited to regular buyers. Companies that are short on grass and have to buy more have been few and far between so far. The price of silage is under some pressure. The mediocre grass is especially difficult to get rid of. For good silage grass, the DCA Indicative Price is €90 per tonne.
Silage maize remains fairly stable. There is not much demand, but on the other hand there is not much on offer. That also suits this time of year. The DCA Indicative Price takes a small step back and stands at €95 per tonne this week.
Things remain noisy in the by-products. We have gone from a demand market to a supply-driven market in recent weeks. Liquid steam prices are still under pressure, but prices for solid by-products are starting to stabilize. Yet things are not yet very quiet. There is a lot of discussion among spent grain suppliers about the different quotations. The vast majority of customers buy one load at a time and little or no discount is given on the price list. For large orders (for example ten loads), price can be adjusted in the current market with sufficient supply, but that is a small part of the market. Do these outliers belong in a quotation or indicative price or not? Suppliers have a self-interest in this and a clear opinion about this. The DCA Indicative Price this week is €3,50 per percent dry matter. The extremes have been ignored.
Out of stock
In straw the permanent work continues. It is mainly France where straw now comes from. Offers from Germany and Denmark are disappointing. Arable farmers in Oldambt are also in little hurry to sell. The DCA Indicative Price remains the same at €140 per tonne for both wheat and barley straw. There is not a lot of trade in meadow hay. Supply and demand remain in good balance. The DCA Indicative Price remains stable at €200 per tonne.
There was not much trade in grass seed hay and it seems to be getting calmer by the week. A representative price is therefore becoming increasingly difficult to put together. The DCA Indicative Price for grass seed hay increases to €185 per tonne, regardless of variety. Several forage traders indicate that they can no longer supply grass seed hay. Inability or difficulty in delivering also applies to feed potatoes. There is hardly any supply. The DCA Indicative Price is €60 per tonne.