The temperature doesn't exactly feel wintry when you step outside, but we're already heading towards Christmas. Players in the forage trade are also working on this. Some by-product suppliers are building up inventory to cover the Christmas shutdowns. Other traders are bringing some work forward or pushing it forward to customers to avoid problems around the holidays.
Things have been more exciting in by-products around this time of year. The market feels relatively stable for most products. Some products are more readily available than others, but generally, what becomes available easily finds a place, and prices remain relatively stable. Potato press fiber, for example, is readily available, but demand remains at such a low level that the price isn't being adjusted much further. The supply of brewer's grains is somewhat tighter, but here too, supply and demand are ultimately relatively balanced. The DCA Indicative Price for brewer's grains this week is €4 per percent dry matter.
There are plenty of fodder potatoes
Feed potatoes, as well as carrots and onions, are regularly offered. These are products that not every livestock farmer wants at this time of year. One trader reports: field-grown carrots delivered to the farm for €0. Even if they're neatly harvested, there's almost always a bit of soil in them. "For a fattener who feeds it as a loose product, that's no problem, but for a dairy farmer with a feed mixer, I recommend rinsed carrots. That way you can be sure you're not mixing soil into the feed, and that's readily available," says one trader.
Feed potatoes are also a somewhat difficult product at the moment. Just like carrots, they quickly become soiled if they haven't been washed. To select the feed and prevent suffocation, it's best to shred the potatoes. Factoring this in, you'll soon arrive at a price comparable to that for potato shreds. The DCA indicative price for feed potatoes this week is €30 per tonne.
Regular work continues in hay and straw. Now that the straw for the balls has been delivered, things feel somewhat calmer in the straw trade. The DCA indicative price for both wheat and barley straw is €170 per tonne. Grass seed hay is between €170 and €180 per tonne, depending on the variety, and the indicative price for grass seed hay is €200 per tonne.
There's little to no trade in grass silage and maize silage. While inquiries about good grass are ongoing, several traders indicate that obtaining it is difficult. "You can get as much as you want from a slightly late-harvested grass, but farmers won't let go of first- or second-cut grass," says one trader. This is often the case, of course. The DCA indicative price for grass silage is €80 per tonne. For maize, the DCA indicative price remains unchanged at €85 per tonne.