I thought it might be insightful to provide some commentary from a couple of organic feed grain buyers to provide a flavour of the current market. "We are expecting some harvest pressure on prices, so are not buyers of new crop at the moment." Another commented "we are well covered for what is a slow summer with the dairy market back as much as 20%, so were ready to build for the winter once we see some commitment and confidence in demand, which at the moment is only hand to mouth."
Sales will come once some orders start to be placed. There is some reluctance from livestock farmers to order feed as prices quoted are higher than expected as feed companies are using up expensive stock. They have contracts bought in the spring at higher values than the spot market and don't want to take the loss on this stock unless they have to. We have seen feed companies slow to move contracts as demand is down meaning these expensive contracts are still hurting. Once this is through the system livestcok farmers will see cheaper priced feed - closer to their expectations- and hopefully demand will improve.
Alongside this The French are reporting volumes of wheat and maize in France being carried over in significant volume - estimated at 136,000 tonnes and 45,000 tonnes respectively. Their supply has grown over recent years and demand stalled over the last year. This is affecting new crop values in France which indicate about £250. They also report little buying interest in feed barley a feature shared in the UK. The French harvest is reported as average in terms of yields and quality.