The rain that fell in the past few days was more than welcome for the grass and the corn. It is growing weather. It could have stayed dry for a while longer for the wheat straw from the new harvest to become available, but the weather forecasts for the second half of the week are not unfavourable. There are no strange developments in the by-products, only the supply of feed potatoes remains ample.
The pressing of winter barley straw is almost finished, according to various traders. You could hardly have wished for better conditions for this. Especially with the high temperatures, the straw was pressed very dry under beautiful conditions. The supply of winter wheat straw is starting up slowly. There is some available from France, but these are not yet large quantities, traders indicate.
Because the grain harvest in the Netherlands and (more importantly) France is currently at a standstill, the price remains quite high. In fact, supported by the changeable weather, arable farmers are even asking a bit more for the straw that can be loaded immediately than a week ago, according to an insider. The DCA Indicative Price for barley straw this week is €140 per tonne. Because there is only limited wheat straw from the new harvest available, we are using the DCA Indicative Price for straw from the 2024 harvest, which has dropped slightly to €175 per tonne, mainly because buyers are waiting for new straw at most likely lower prices. Traders who quote a price for new wheat straw are at around €140 per tonne.
Customers are asking about grass seed hay, but there is not much trade yet. Some early threshed grass seed has been pressed, but the bulk has yet to arrive, traders indicate. It is still a bit of a search for a price. Some buyers and sellers are waiting a bit for the weather. If we get a period of steady dry weather, they will drop the grass seed hay, otherwise the chopper on the combine will be started. Other forage traders have been promised that they can press the grass seed hay, but they still have to agree on a price. The DCA Indicative Price for reed canary grass is €150 per tonne. Perennial ryegrass is ten euros lower than that.
Feed potatoes sat
For most by-products, supply and demand are fairly well balanced. Exceptions are in potato by-products. The first processors are in the summer break and that puts pressure on the supply of, for example, steam peels or wood chips. On the other hand, feed potatoes are in abundance, especially at the larger suppliers. The price range for feed potatoes is quite wide. "With the shovel loaded directly onto the truck, we can load at the first addresses for free," according to a trader. For a batch with little or no germ and neatly loaded over the hopper, prices of around €30 per tonne, delivered to the buyer, are mentioned.
The trade in maize is relatively quiet. Partly due to the high temperatures and the risk of quality loss when re-ensiling because of it last week, several traders have taken it easy for a while. The DCA Indicative Price remains stable at €90 per tonne. Silage grass is also somewhat quieter. Buyers who really needed something have done something in recent weeks and now it is mainly smaller batches of bales that the trade has to rely on. The DCA Indicative Price for loose silage grass is €80 per tonne this week.