Despite torrential rainfall in parts of the country, farmers are holding out on buying feed, with some merchants saying producers are holding off buying for as long as possible due to lower beef and milk prices.

In the west, yearly sales are back slightly on last year, in contrast to the mid-east of the country where sales overall are up. The first few months of the year saw an increase in feed sales on the back of the abolition of milk quotas. However, as the year progressed and milk prices fell, it wasn’t feasible to spend money on feed, so sales levelled off. The cold damp weather in April and May switched sales off.

Farmers seem to have invested more into fertiliser, due to lower prices, with the aim of increasing grass growth. As the weather is getting worse and evenings are shortening, sales have gone up slightly, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Sales are slowly starting to gain momentum, with some merchants saying anyone targeting finishing cattle off grass are buying that bit more now, but that is the norm for this time of the year. Beef ration prices are back a bit, as well as new season barley, wheat and maize – all back around €5 to €10/t. There is still a surplus of grass down south. However, some farmers are badly affected by rain and sales are up 20% on the same week last year. Price evidently is being influenced by paying date, quality and quantity.