Markets have started to wind down ahead of Christmas. Matif wheat for December 2026 was at €199/t on Friday 19 December.

It had reached a low for the year on 18 December at €198/t. It was at €200.25/t on Monday afternoon.

The European Commission has forecast an increase in wheat production for the 2025/2026 season.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) reported that attractive shipping costs in the EU were making grain more competitive.

Oilseed rape continued its downward trend in recent days. Oil prices and good yields and supplies of oilseed products globally are not helping this price.

The November 2026 price closed at €450.75/t on Friday. It has now declined steadily since the start of December, with an odd recovery along the way.

On 2 December, it closed at €468/t. The lowest price of the year for the same market was €431/t on 14 April.

Agritel reported last week that: “The WTI crude oil barrel in New York is not far from its lows of the week and its lows for five years at $55.30.”

UK cropping area

The AHDB released the results of the early-bird survey on planting intentions.

Winter barley area is expected to decrease by 1% to 360,000ha, while winter wheat is expected to increase by 1% to 1,695,000ha.

Spring barley is expected to drop by 15% and oats may be down 14%. Other cereals such as rye and triticale are to increase by 7%.

Oilseed rape is expected to recover. The area is expected to jump by 32% to 317,000ha.

The survey showed that the pulses area may decline by 12%.

Overall, arable area is expected to increase by 26,000ha to about 4,798,000ha.

The AHDB commented: “Autumn drilling conditions were generally good in 2025, contrasting with the wet start to the autumn drilling window last year and extremely wet conditions in autumn 2023.

“However, the market environment is challenging, with lower prices for cereals and lower milling and malting premiums, plus increased costs for all crops.”

Native prices

Last week, Dairygold offered growers €190/t for green wheat for harvest 2026 and €180/t for green barley.

The dried prices were €30/t above this. A price of €445/t was offered for green oilseed rape.

The wheat and barley prices are the same prices which were offered at the end of October and November, while the oilseed rape price is the same as the November offer.