Grain merchants in many areas are reporting reduced grain intake because of poor planting conditions, more crops for forage and the impact of the prolonged drought on yields for tillage farmers.

Estimates from Glanbia suggest that the combination of reduced acreage and lower yields has left its green grain intake for 2018 down by about 20% on 2017. However, a spokesperson said quality had been very good in general and in most cases similar to 2017.

Protein levels in spring barley were higher than normal but there was still a better than anticipated acceptance rate for malting barley.

Overall, winter crops performed better than spring crops. In the Glanbia catchment, winter wheat yield was down by 0.4t/ac against its five-year average while spring barley was back by 0.8t/ac.

Northeast

In the northeast, Drummonds is reporting a reduction of 25% on last year’s intake. One merchant said spring barley was 20% to 25% complete, while winter wheat was all but over. However, a broken week had seen the harvest interrupted.

He said spring barley yields were averaging from 2t/ac to 2.5t/ac. This is down from a 3t/ac average last year.

Liffey Mills said that, while spring barley had turned out better than expected, yield was still back by 0.75t/ac. It reported an average yield of 2.2t/ac with the best yields at 2.5t/ac. Lower yields coupled with reduced acreage meant reduced intake was inevitable in 2018 .

In the southeast, Cooney Furlong Grain Company said spring barley yields were back by between 0.75t/ac and 1.0t/ac on 2017, averaging between 2t/ac and 2.5t/ac. A similar range was reported for spring oats while winter wheat was put at 4.0t/ac to 4.5t/ac.

Keen demand

Demand for grain is keen at ground level as a consequence and some high local prices have encouraged some growers to supply the high-priced feed market with barley grown for malting.

This is happening because of the variability in pricing mechanisms.

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