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Spot markets for grain, and more crucially for proteins, have fallen over the past week, with significant price drops seen for soya.
Imported barley had eased to £226/t midweek, with soya down by just over £40/t to £509/t.
Allowing for handling and transport, around £20 to £40/t should be added to spot prices to get an equivalent on-farm cost.
Soya downturn
The downturn in soya is a big development for feed prices, as the price of the crop was hindering local merchants from lowering ration prices this spring, despite barley falling by £60/t from the highs of last autumn.
While lower prices on spot markets are being welcomed by feed merchants, they are unlikely to result in cuts to ration prices for April, as feed mills already have straights forward-purchased for the month ahead.
However, there is some hope that ration prices will start to ease from May onwards.
Fertiliser
In the fertiliser trade, the latest price quotes have also eased this week, although the majority of cuts apply to compound products.
CAN is down £5 to £10/t, with deals ranging from £465 to £475/t depending on quantities purchased and full payment on delivery.
Urea is trading around £545 to £550/t.
Compounds
Compounds have fallen £50 to £60/t with quotes for 25-5-5 around £580/t, while other products like 20-10-10 and 24-6-12 are in the region of £620 to £630/t.
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