Straight prices this week

Soyabean jumped to €440/t on the spot market, only to fall back down to €415/t this week. It shows the volatility in straight prices over the last two weeks.

The outbreak of avian flu in China, as well as reduced demand, were the causes for the slip this week. However, farmers are somewhat disconnected from the spot market as most merchants forward-bought what they initially thought would be up to 70% of their straights to December. Good weather and grass growth reduced orders by 30% and has left them with more stock than expected.

Merchants here are still able to offer soyabean meal at €420/t or lower retail as they have locked in a larger percentage of their straights. Rapeseed is being bought at around €250/t, with maize meal selling for €210/t to €215/t. A lot of farmers are using soya hulls for fibre. It can be bought at around €175/t to €185/t.

Check dry matter

Rolled barley can be bought at €175/t or even lower. A word of warning. Check the dry matter when comparing prices.

Some merchants are selling grain dried, with others selling them treated with products like mycocurb.

One farmer wanted to bring attention to the disparity between Irish and UK straights. He has sourced artic loads from Scotland at £91/t ex-store. He also pre-ordered 29t of hyprsoya for 1 December at £309 ex-Liverpool. He questioned if there is a feed cartel here?

I will go into this in more detail next week.