Grain Trends: prices at highest level since August

On Wednesday morning, wheat, maize and oilseeds all looked to be in the red, although wheat started to increase in the afternoon.

French wheat and corn prices had dropped every day this week.

The December price for French wheat closed at €222.50/t on Friday 13 March. On Wednesday afternoon, it was at €218.50/t. These are the highest prices we’ve seen since early August.

The war in Iran is no doubt playing a role in this, reminding us that markets climb with conflict, but Iran is not a grain-producing country, so the climb in the market may not hold.

It will have an effect on other things, like we see with fertiliser and fuel prices, which could also impact on production.

Funds are reported to be taking profits in markets, while grain-producing countries are also seeing sales as presumably sellers try to take some profit from the bounce in the market.

US planting decisions will be a key watch point for markets. Last year saw a move to corn from soybeans. This year, with oil prices high or stable, it could lead to more soybean planting.

Fertiliser costs will also be a concern for corn planting.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) reported this week: “Currently, soyabeans are favoured over maize (Nov-26 v Dec-26) because their price is 2.37 times higher than that of maize, due to differences in yield and growing costs.”

In the US, there are some concerns reported about dryness in winter wheat crops.

Overall, world grain stocks are high, so that will continue to play into markets.

Oilseed rape prices have been relatively stable in recent days, but have held their recent increase.

At the beginning of the month, French oilseed rape for November was at €478.75/t and that price was at €492.25/t on Wednesday afternoon this week.

Native prices

At home, spot prices for dried wheat and barley are up slightly, but are still reported level at around €220/t.

Looking out to November and wheat is reported back to its traditional €10/t over barley at about €225/t dried.

Last week, both co-ops offered growers harvest 2026 prices.

Tirlán was reported in last week’s paper at €190/t for green feed wheat, €185/t for green feed barley and €465/t for oilseed rape.

Dairygold came later, on 11 March. The Munster-based co-op offered growers €196/t for green feed wheat, €187/t for green feed barley and €465/t for oilseed rape, while the minimum price of €230/t for beans remains on offer.

As markets are at their highest since last August, it looks like a sensible idea to sell a bit to manage risk. Could you make a profit at this price, will you make a profit if it drops?