Grain prices continued to fall over the past week and Matif wheat for December went below €270/t.

On Tuesday evening, it finished at €267/t. That was down €5/t on Friday evening’s (3 March) close.

Overall, the price has dropped significantly in the last few weeks, as demand has fallen back as dear stocks are currently being used by many customers.

The December 2023 Matif price finished 2022 at €289.75/t and has been on a downward trend for January and February.

Having dropped in January and February, it had picked up in mid-February, returning to prices of around €283/t, but is now more than €10/t under this price.

Reports on whether the Black Sea grain corridor initiative will be extended will continue to affect grain markets.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) in the UK remains negative on prices for wheat, barley, maize, oilseeds and soya beans for the next two to six months.

Irish grain prices generally follow a similar trend to French wheat prices, so it is important to track this price.

French maize prices also dropped at similar rates to wheat. The November price finished at €257.25/t on Monday, down €5.75/t on Friday’s close of €263/t.

Oilseeds

Oilseed rape for November dropped by €11/t from Monday to Tuesday this week to €522.50/t.

It had already dropped by €7.75/t to €533.50/t on Monday evening from Friday’s close.

Progress on the soya bean harvest in Brazil is most likely playing into the drop in oilseed prices, as a big crop is expected from Brazil this year.

The Australian oilseed rape crop is expected to be approximately 1 million tonnes bigger than previously forecast.

Estimates are forecast at 8.3m tonnes. However, the drought in Argentina should help to put some floor in oilseed markets.

Native prices

Closer to home, Boortmalt made an offer of €300/t to growers last week and that stayed open this week. The offer is approximately €80/t over current feed barley prices.

Malting barley growers could fix the price on up to 20% of contract with the merchant they are dealing with.

Growers should note that the €10/t charge - to cover drying and logistics costs - will not apply to fixed prices, but will apply to the harvest price, which is calculated from the average Free-On-Board (FOB) Creil Planet price from mid-April to mid-September.

Last week, Tirlán released green harvest prices of €220/t for feed barley and €228/t for feed wheat.