Analysis roughage
Tight supply of brewers' grains causes headaches
The holidays are approaching and that is also noticeable in the forage trade. In the by-products, it is shifting to keep customers feeding during the planned stops. In hay and straw, the motto is 'don't mess things up too much these weeks'.
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This raises the question of whether the market is sufficiently supplied with stocks of straw, brewers' grains, etc. This is not the case for all roughage, as there are rumors of brewers' grain shortages.
The DCA Indicative Price for brewers' grains increases to €3,70 per percent dry matter. Heineken is producing again, but with the holidays approaching, the planned stops at the breweries are coming up again. Distributors of brewers' grains do not have to be bored. Be careful with commitments, provide alternatives and distribute loads among customers if there really is no other option.
It depends on where the supplier has the contacts, but solid products such as corn gluten, wheat yeast concentrate, potato chips or pressed fibre can be an alternative to brewers' grains. This may not be the most logical time for major changes, but it can't hurt to take a critical look at the ration. Feed potatoes are not that easy to obtain. It is not that there is no supply at all, but they are not there for the taking either. The DCA Indicative Price for feed potatoes remains the same at €50 per tonne.
In hay and straw, it is mainly the regular work that continues. Both customers and traders are not looking forward to turning everything upside down now. The DCA Indicative Price for straw remains the same at €175 per ton. Supply and demand are now reasonably in balance. For the bulbs or carrots, everything has been delivered by now. Now it is livestock farmers who, if necessary, have an extra load delivered so that they are not without between Christmas and New Year. Perhaps this (limited) extra demand ensures that some traders think that the price is still tending to rise a bit.
lukewarm market
The DCA Indicative Price for meadow hay remains at €195 per ton this week and the Indicative Price for grass seed hay remains the same at €180 per ton. However, the trade is not busy. It is the real enthusiasts who are now on the market for these products.
The DCA Indicative Price for silage grass is taking a step up to €85 per ton. Here too it is not particularly busy. You can always sell good silage grass, but in contrast to recent years, grass has grown reasonably well last year. As a result, demand is now somewhat lower than it has been in other years.
The DCA Indicative Price for silage maize remains the same at €85 per tonne, for nice silage maize from the 2024 harvest. There is not much trade. If possible, some planning is done around these days.