Grain yields in Ireland are projected to reach 2.2 million tons, while demand for straw will remain high.
However, the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) opposed increased use of imported corn and grain by feed merchants, who said it “cost grain producers millions of euros” and undermined the Origin Green marketing campaign.
Harvesting starts in the middle of July in the south of Ireland, preliminary prices for green barley are 146-150 euros per ton, for wheat - 159-163 euros per ton; prices for dried barley and wheat are 176–180 euros per ton and 190–194 euros per ton, respectively.
Bobby Miller from the Irish group of grain producers said that “before the prices for the crop are finally determined”, there is something to play on, noting that world markets were “on the verge of a knife” due to bad weather conditions in the USA.
Although another 350,000 tons of grain is expected compared to last year, Bobby Brown noted that this year's crop will still be 200,000 tons lower than the 2017 crop and that the sown area for the 2019 crop was one of the lowest. in the entire history of observations.
“Since 2012, sown area has been reduced by almost 20%. This is a serious concern, given that the import of grain for livestock feed has increased significantly, in particular, corn tripled in tonnage over the same period.
Replacing local grain with imported grain leads to a loss of millions of euros for the rural economy, ”said the representative of the Irish grain producers.