As we move into the last 20% of the harvest, it is obvious that this has been a good yield year in virtually all of the country. There may not be record yields in some areas, such as the south, but the overall outcome has been much better than anticipated three months ago.

Reports from all over the country indicate that harvest yields have been good to excellent and reflect the high genetic potential of the varieties we grow.

Quality has also been good to excellent in all crops with no signs of any serious deterioration following the broken weather recently.

Spring barely quality was disappointing for some growers in parts of the south, where specific weights were a concern in some varieties, despite good yields.

Demand for physical product remains low, especially in this harvest pressure period, and dry prices are in the region of €160/t for barley and €170/t for wheat. These auger poorly for green prices currently but many believe that there is scope for markets to firm somewhat post-harvest.

The big harvest is adding further pressure to prices. The aforementioned dry prices equate to around €130/t to €140/t green for wheat and barley. Prices may rise following the usual harvest madness but this will be heavily influenced by the yield levels produced from the US maize harvest, which is now taking place.

Merchants realise that price levels to growers must be realistic but this is a challenge in the current market environment. The big tonnages do not help on the supply side but many buyers indicated their hope a few weeks ago that green prices might be around €140/t for barley and €150/t for wheat.