Merchants throughout the country are reporting a strong sale of meal, with one merchant in Mayo saying they are six weeks ahead on sales compared with the same period last year.

Many farmers will also have to battle with a reduced silage stock this winter, with the challenge now to make this stretch until spring. For this reason, more farmers are turning to meal in an effort to bridge this deficit.

For a 16% bulk weanling ration, there can be a large variation in price. Quotes were given for bulk orders collected. Generally, prices will be higher in the west due to additional transport costs.

The lowest quote received was €228/t in Longford, followed closely by €235/t quoted in Offaly.

Progressing west, prices start to increase with a quote in Mayo of €276/t.

Moving down to Tipperary, a weanling ration was demanding €285/t, while in Cork this was €253/t. Meanwhile, €260/t was being quoted in Wexford, while quotes of €250/t were given in Meath.

The cost to get meal delivered can vary from €5 to €15/t, depending on the quantity of meal purchased.

There can be a big difference in the quality of the ration that you are getting, so it pays to not just look at the price but the ingredients present in the ration also.

On a feed label, ingredients will be listed in decreasing quantity within the ration.

You want a ration that has high quantities of cereals, pulps and distillers, while soya bean meal is the best protein source. You want to try to stay away from the lower-quality feeds such as sunflower, palm kernel and gluten.

Finishing ration

A similar variation was present when it came to a finishing ration, generally around 14% to 15% protein. Again, this was priced in bulk.

Prices as high as €274/t were quoted in Mayo, with a low of €220/t quoted in Offaly. Tipperary at €265/t, Wexford at €240/t, Cork at €233/t and Meath at €240/t are all within this range. A dairy 18% ration is being quoted at €250/t in Tipperary collected from the yard and €260/t delivered. One merchant in Cork quoted higher at €268/t. Prices in Mayo varied from €260/t to €280/t.