Ingredients bought ‘hand to mouth’

Millers and feed compounders are buying ingredients “hand to mouth” due to shortages, said James Nolan of R&H Hall, at the Teagasc National Tillage Crops Forum.

He predicted native Irish grain production will fall 17% compared to 2011, from 2.4m tonnes to 2.03m tonnes, with the slump ranging from 21% in wheat to 14% in barley.

The feed grain market has also been hit by factors such as drought devastation of the US maize crop, drought damage in North and South America to oilseed crops, and currency movements.