Feed wheat prices remain stable at £143.80/t ex-farm
© Tim Scrivener UK feed wheat prices remained relatively stable in the week to 22 March, increasing by just £0.50/t to £143.80/t ex-farm for spot delivery.
This is £45.10/t higher than the same week last year. Global markets were buoyed by strong Egyptian demand and record US maize exports, although the stronger pound and euro were eroding those gains.
See also: Wellgrain collapse – what farmers need to know and do
According to the latest report by Saxon Agriculture, UK wheat exports totalled 91,000t in January, taking the July-January total to 1.16m tonnes, against 1.30m in the same period last year.
Wheat imports totalled 990,000t between July and January, compared with 950,000t last year.
Looking ahead to the 2017 harvest, winter plantings in Scotland have increased across the board, according to the latest Scottish Agriculture Survey.
Oat and oilseed rape areas increased by 8% each, to 32,000ha and 9,000ha, respectively, as of December 2016. Winter wheat plantings increased from 102,000ha to 104,000ha, with winter barley up from 51,000ha to 52,000ha.
However, when combined to produce total UK data, the winter wheat area was down by 3% to 1.59m ha, with winter barley dropping from 384,000ha to 369,000ha.
Oats are the one crop to buck the trend, rising by 20,000ha across the UK.