We are hardly used to such a dry spring. The rain of last weekend and today is more than welcome for the growth of the grass and a bit more could fall. The fact that the grass is getting going a bit slowly is somewhat noticeable in the forage trade. There is quite a demand for good silage grass, several traders notice.
The manure and artificial fertilizers have been spread on time and under good conditions in recent weeks. Just because you can go out to pasture early does not mean that there will be grass early. Of course, it is only mid-April so there is actually nothing wrong, but livestock farmers are asking relatively often about good protein-rich grass for the dairy cows. According to traders, this is not very easy to find. Last year it was stealing and the first cut was often mown too late for the good. Now that we have had a dry spring so far, there are livestock farmers on the one hand who want to buy some silage grass and on the other hand livestock farmers who have more space in the feed who think: better safe than sorry. According to forage traders, it is therefore not easy to get hold of top quality grass when a customer asks for it. Prices for good silage grass vary somewhat, but the DCA Indicative Price for silage grass is €80 per tonne.
Some traders point to alfalfa hay as a protein-rich product that can be a nice supplement if you can't get hold of silage grass. "Not every farmer is familiar with sun-dried alfalfa hay from Germany or France, so they don't ask for it," says a trader. There has been little change in meadow and grass seed hay this week. Good grass seed hay is not that easy to find, but on the other hand there is also limited supply. In meadow hay it is the regular customers who do something and these are usually horse owners. The DCA Indicative Price for grass seed hay is €165 per ton and for meadow hay €190 per ton.
In straw too, it is mainly the permanent work that continues. Because cows, horses and sheep can easily go outside, for example, the demand is somewhat lower than it has been in other years. Because most livestock farmers are still on the winter ration, there is no additional demand for feed straw as a supplement to the spring grass that has little structure. The DCA Indicative Price for both wheat and barley straw remains stable at €185 per tonne.
By-products in balance
The market for by-products is reasonably balanced. As mentioned: most farmers are on the winter ration and if the cows are doing well on it now, they want to move as little as possible. The DCA Indicative Price this week is €3,30 per percent dry matter. Firm potato by-products tend to become somewhat scarcer, while wheat yeast concentrate, for example, is widely available. Products such as feed potatoes or feed carrots are widely available. For such products, you need sufficient feed speed and that does not always suit dairy farmers at the start of the pasture season. Bull fatteners will remain on the market. The DCA Indicative Price for feed potatoes this week is €50 per tonne.
The trade in corn is going well, especially if you have good corn. Buyers do not hesitate and if it fits with transport you can also get there quickly, according to a trader. The DCA Indicative Price for silage corn this week comes out at €85 per ton. The range is from around €80 to €90 per ton.