The Matif wheat price for December hit a monthly peak of €256.75/t on 2 September. By Tuesday this week, it had fallen to €247.25/t.

Corn was also down, but rapeseed was up. In the US wheat was up and corn was down on Tuesday. Markets had been closed on Monday for Labor Day.

However, the green lights came on again on Wednesday and Matif wheat for November climbed back up to €249.75/t, with corn and oilseed rape up too.

The focus points in the market continue to be the possibility of grain moving out of the Black Sea, the Middle East, the threat of El Nino on grain supplies and the impact of lower maize stocks.

The El Nino is giving support to the market, but how it will affect prices is unknown.

Some experts are saying that it could be one of the worst El Nino events in about 150 years. Drought in the southern hemisphere could affect corn, maize and soybean production. Maize production has already been affected this year in Europe by drought and it looks to be reflected in prices.

French maize for November is trading about €20/t over wheat. Usually, a higher maize price is good for Irish farmers, as feed producers choose wheat or barley over maize. Looking ahead to 2027 and November maize was actually trading below wheat by about €7/t on Wednesday.

There are a lot of different things to consider in the markets. There have also been opportunities to sell at relatively good prices. There was a peak in July and we just had another peak at the beginning of September.

If you do want to sell some grain or think you should, it might be an idea to watch out for these peaks and sell small amounts at a time. There are no cereal crops in the ground yet, which has to be considered too.

Corn and soybean condition look fairly close to the average in the US. The September World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report is due out on Friday and will be closely watched by traders.

Malting barley

The October/March price for Free-On-Board Creil Planet malting barley was at €224.50/t this week, which is down slightly. At the end of August that price reached a monthly peak of €229/t. That’s the highest it’s been since 26 July, when it hit €235.50/t.

Prices of €240/t for dried Irish barley and €255/t for dried Irish wheat were reported in recent days.

Oilseed rape

This week, oilseed rape continued to climb. The November 2026 price hit €558/t on Tuesday this week and on Wednesday afternoon was at €561.50/t.

The November 2027 price was at €529/t on Wednesday, up €4/t on the day before. Some farmers have reported that they sold some of their crop for 2027 at prices of €500-510/t.