Grain Council Report July 2023

Market Report  

Since the last Council report the harvest of winter barley has commenced. In parts of north Cork and south Tipperary harvesting of winter barley began in the last few days of June. Further north into the midlands and east a start was made on the weekend of the 7^th and 8^th of July but there have been precious little opportunities for cutting since, with very unsettled weather conditions persisting. Yields on fields harvested to date are said to be moderate to good with most yields between 3.3 and 3.8t/ac at lower moistures. Some winter barley crops grown after break crops are yielding over 4t/ac. Hectolitre weights are reported as satisfactory to good with a typical range of 62-67kph.  

Native and International Prices  

There are very limited quotes for new crop green barley. Tirlan offered €190/t for green barley and €200/t for green wheat on July 6^th but there have been no offers published since. There is also very limited activity reported in old crop spot markets, with dry barley making €230/t and dry wheat fetching €240-€245/t.  

International markets have remained largely steady in recent weeks and in the first half of July have been underpinned by uncertainty over the renewal of the Black Sea Grain Corridor. On July 17^th Russia announced its intention to withdraw from the Initiative. Market response to the announcement appears to be relatively limited with MATIF wheat futures largely unchanged and still trading in a range of €238-240/t for the Dec-23 contract at the time of writing on July 18^th.   

Paris rapeseed futures have recovered ground in recent weeks since the low of €394/t was reached on 30^th of May. Prices have reached €460-470/t at the time of writing. The drivers of this increase are based on a (i) lower than anticipated area of soybeans in the USA, (ii) declines in European rapeseed yields and (iii) concern over dryness in Canadian prairies.   

FOB Creil malting barley prices have risen throughout the past few weeks on the back of hot weather and drought conditions across northern Europe and Scandinavia. Prices for the July 23 2RS contract are trading in a range between €280-290/t up from €255-265/t in May and June.  

Activity Since Last National Council 

• The National Grain Chairman and Vice Chairman attended the Copa Cogeca Cereals and Oilseed Working Party meeting on June 29^th. 

• The National Grain Chairman and Grain Policy Executive attended a Tillage Vision Group meeting in Backweston on July 10^th and 21^st respectively.  
• The Grain Policy Executive attended a briefing update on glyphosate by the Glyphosate Renewal Group in Brussels on July 12^th. 

Future Events 

• The National Grain Chairman and the Grain Policy Executive will represent IFA at the Tillage Vision Stakeholder Meeting at the Department of Agriculture, Backweston, Co. Kildare on August 1^st 2023. 

EU Developments  

• The European Food Safety Authority has found no areas of critical concern in its risk assessment of the glyphosate dossier. Voting by member state representatives is now expected to take place at the October meeting of SCOPAFF.  
• Voting on the SUR Proposals (Sustainable Use of Pesticides) by the Agri-Committee is now expected to be delayed until after the summer recess and into the autumn.  

Future Priorities 

• A submission will be made to the Food Vision Group on suggestions for new tillage schemes.