Grain prices in Europe, the UK and the US continued their trend downward to the start of this week, but then showed some signs of recovery.

The dramatic fall in prices in the second half of last week looks to have eased.

At home, the harvest price is unlikely to be settled until early October. However, there are reports of farmers being paid on account at levels of €160/t by some.

Grain prices fell until Tuesday. The French wheat price for December closed at €205.25/t on Monday evening, but started to recover on Tuesday when it hit €207/t. By Wednesday afternoon it was at €211.75/t.

Yields estimated down

Prices are likely to have picked up on Tuesday, following the release of the European Commission’s MARS bulletin, which monitors crop conditions in Europe.

Hot conditions and drought during the summer has resulted in a decline in yield forecasts in some regions, while in others, heavy rain hit winter crops before and at harvest, affecting grain quality.

Total cereal production was forecast down by 2% from the five-year average in the report. Wheat was down 3%, winter barley was down 5% and spring barley was up 9% in the report.

In the US, the Pro Farmer Crop Tour placed maize yield under the Department of Agriculture’s estimates, but still at record levels for some states.

On 12 August, the USDA placed corn production at 15.1 billion bushels, based on a yield of 183.1bu/ac. The tour placed that production at just under 15 billion bushels, based on a yield of 181.1bu/ac.

Oilseed rape offer

Oilseed rape prices increased, while wheat prices fell. On Wednesday afternoon, the French oilseed rape price for November contracts was at €464.25/t, returning to levels from over two weeks ago following a dip.

Tirlán is offering growers oilseed rape contracts for high erucic acid rapeseed (HEAR). Growers can fix a price of €575/t for up to 1t/ac of a grower’s production.

Growers can also forward sell the remainder of their crop at any time during the year based on the November 2025 French MATIF oilseed rape price, which will have €20/t added on. On Wednesday of this week, that price was at €448.75/t. It should be noted some of these varieties are not as high-yielding as other varieties on the market.

Malting barley

It’s good to see malting barley passing for many over the weighbridge. It’s generally offering a €60 to €70/t premium over feed. At present, the average price stands at €260.17/t and after a €10/t charge, it is at €250.17/t.