Specialist grain growers in NI are facing a cash flow crisis with product slow to move out of stores, the chairman of the Ulster Farmers’ Union seeds and cereals committee, Richard Orr, has said.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Orr maintained that with global grain at depressed prices, feed mills bought a lot of forward cover for the winter and into the spring. Honouring those contracts for imported grain has taken priority.
“Local growers are being told by feed mills that they don’t need wheat or barley. It means growers have nowhere to go with it – the product is just sitting there. Sheds are full and no-one wants to buy it,” said Orr.
After three years of poor prices, there were already major concerns around profitability in the sector, although Orr maintained that the immediate issue is now cash flow.
“You don’t get paid until the grain is lifted. Growers need cash flow to be able to buy seed and fertiliser for the 2026 crop,” he said.
On enquiry, sources in the feed trade maintained that they do hold gaps in their books for local grain, particularly around harvest and into the new-year when growers are looking to clear out their stores. However, there is a general acceptance that local growers are under severe financial pressure.
Co Armagh grower Tim McClelland described the current situation as “horrendous”, pointing out that prices for dried grain need to be over £250/t to have any hope of leaving a margin, not around the £180 to £190/t mark as seen in recent months.
“It is a double-edged sword. On the one hand there is the poor profitability and on top of that are the current cash flow issues. Unless it changes soon, we simply can’t afford to grow grain any more. Arable farmers will have to look to other options,” he said.
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