The forage trade isn't particularly busy. Regular customers naturally stay at the market, but the bustle you experience around the corn harvest or with straw in the summer is missing. The by-products market is a bit chaotic. With some products, you have to work hard to get them placed, while with other flows, you have to slow down to avoid running out.
It's a bit later than usual with such a relatively early corn harvest, but the supply of potato press fiber is now really quite ample. Several suppliers indicate they have to work hard to sell the available volume. One trader notes that there was less interest in transit contracts this year. Especially in the north of the country, sufficient grass and corn have grown, and livestock farmers are somewhat less interested in an additional product like press fiber.
Feed potatoes and wood chips are and will remain readily available. Fewer arable farmers are currently selling potatoes. After all, the potatoes are now indoors, and growers are hoping, perhaps against their better judgment, that the market might pick up again. Processors have a different perspective, and they appear to be continuing to sell through alternative channels, such as feed. The DCA Indicative Price for feed potatoes remains unchanged at €30 per tonne.
Beer spent grain remains in demand
Because processors are not operating at full capacity, the supply of steam peels remains tight. Brewers' grains are and remain in high demand among livestock farmers. The DCA Indicative Price remains unchanged from last week at €4 per percent dry matter.
The silage and maize sectors are quiet. Demand for maize comes primarily from peat meadow areas, where farmers have maize delivered every few weeks. The DCA indicative price for good maize is €85 per tonne. There is considerable demand for good silage, especially from the south of the country, but as usual, supply is limited. Most farmers prefer to keep good grass from the first or second cut. The DCA indicative price remains stable at €80 per tonne.
The straw for the bulbs is almost all delivered, and that means the market is calming down a bit. This doesn't mean it's getting any easier to acquire straw. Arable farmers have the straw in their sheds and are in absolutely no hurry to sell. The DCA Indicative Price for both wheat and barley straw is €170 per tonne.
There's also not much trade in grass seed and meadow hay. Prices for grass seed hay range from €170 to €180, depending on the variety. Meadow hay is priced at €200 tons.