Farmers have noticed an increase of up to €10/t on some types of feed over the last number of days.

While there is plenty of supply available globally for most types of animal feed, COVID-19 is causing logistical issues for feed mills.

In particular, mills are reporting that there are shipping issues with soya, with ports in Brazil and Argentina slowed down as a result of workers becoming ill or continued government uncertainty over the pandemic.

There are also issues with the speed at which shipments can be unloaded

While ports in Ireland remain fully operational, there are also issues with the speed at which shipments can be unloaded, given that many teams have been downsized and split to comply with social distancing regulations.

All of these delays generate pressure on the supply side, which has helped to push up the price of soya. There is a current expectation that prices will remain higher for the next two months.

Mid-proteins

The price of mid-proteins, such as maize distillers, could also be affected, not by the coronavirus but as a consequences of the low global crude oil price.

With oil at such low prices, it’s no longer economically viable to produce bioethanol in the US and maize distillers – which makes up a component of animal feed - is a by-product of bioethanol.

Pat Ryan of Liffey Feeds said that many mills had just come through their busiest 10 days of the year.

He said that the industry had put restrictions in place to ensure that they could continue trading, but acknowledged that it was a difficult time for farmers.

“We’d hope that banks would be understanding to our customers during this time and not be rigid with people who have a good track record,” Ryan said.