The corn harvest has really started now and with it the trade in new corn is also starting. Now that the choppers are driving there is also a demand for covering over the corn silo. Straw is more difficult trade. According to forage traders the availability is not great.
Trading in maize on the stem is a difficult one this season. The plots are very variable and that makes it extremely difficult to put a price on it. The quality of the maize that is now being chopped is generally not bad according to insiders. Of course, in most cases these are also the plots that were sown reasonably on time. There are more concerns about the maize sown later. For the DCA Indicative Price for silage maize, we are switching to the new harvest this week and that comes to €75 per tonne delivered free in the silo, excluding shovel. The range is from €70 to €80 per tonne. There is not much trade left in old maize that can be fed directly. If a livestock farmer still wants something, prices of around €90 are mentioned. The demand for cover products such as potato fibre for over the maize is good according to suppliers.
The supply of straw is still tight. The DCA Indicative Price remains relatively high, at €170 per tonne. The grain and straw harvest was disappointing this season and sellers are keeping the doors of the barn closed. They expect that straw prices could still rise later in the season. Some livestock farmers are looking at alternatives, both as bedding and for rumen injection, but nothing really stands out that is a lot cheaper.
The DCA Indicative Price for grass seed hay remains the same at €185 per tonne, with the remark that there is little to no trade. The DCA Indicative Price for meadow hay also remains stable this week at €190 per tonne. Incidentally, the trade is not very busy. Especially in grass seed hay it is very quiet. Partly due to limited supply but also because livestock farmers who like to feed grass seed hay have already built up a stock after the harvest.
The DCA Indicative Price for silage grass is taking a step up, to €85 per ton for good silage grass. The supply is on the low side. Getting good silage grass in hand is a challenge.
The DCA Indicative Price for feed potatoes remains the same at €50 per tonne. The DCA Indicative Price for brewers grains also remains the same at €3,60 per percent dry matter. Trade continues as before. Demand is good, but we are not talking about huge queues. Supply and demand are reasonably in balance. In other words: the market is stable.