Tillage farmers struggled to make incomes from grain stack up this year, with poor yields and lower grain prices than 2023 at harvest.

Wheat and barley prices for Irish farmers were down by over 30% from 2022 to 2023. However, we must remember that harvest prices of €200/t for green feed barley are still among record prices. Declines in yield of approximately 9.5% to 21% across the board, along with high input prices made it a difficult season.

Prices were at their highest at the beginning of the year and with peaks and troughs throughout the year, those prices effectively dropped ever since, holding fairly steady over the last few weeks.

Ukraine war

The war in Ukraine affected markets hugely in 2022 and still affected markets in 2023.

However, markets did move back to fundamentals and this year saw weather play a huge role in prices.

For much of the year, competitive grain exports from the Black Sea kept prices down somewhat.

In the first and final quarters of 2023, soya prices soared. Argentina’s production had halved due to severe drought and the country was importing soya to meet demands.

In the final quarter, focus turned to South America and dryness. Both wet and dry weather affected soya bean planting in Brazil in recent weeks.

Dryness is now causing an issue for the planting of the Safrihna maize crop in Brazil as well. When maize is plentiful, it generally puts pressure on wheat and barley price, as consumers will purchase cheaper maize.

Highs and lows

Here we take a look at some of the high and low prices of 2023.

Matif wheat for December 2023 peaked at €288.75/t on 2 January and dropped to a low of €215.75/t on 5 December 2023.

Matif oilseed rape for November hit its highest in 2023 on 3 January at €598.50/t and dropped to a low of €391.25/t on 23 October.

Spot barley prices started the year at approximately €310/t and dropped to their lowest at approximately €220/t in mid-July, although it has been close to those levels in recent weeks.

Spot wheat prices were at their highest here at home at approximately €320/t at the beginning of the year and hit their lowest at approximately €232/t in the middle of November. All prices are dry unless otherwise stated.