Monday Market Briefing - 1st August 2022

So, August finally arrives, feeling like it’s a bit late to the party in all honesty. Harvest in south-east England is about 50% complete and we can say with confidence we have a high quality and plentiful crop to work with this year. The south west is some way behind but expectations are high for good results there too.

Markets posted a £15 gain last week, effectively recouping the drop we saw when the Black Sea shipping corridor was agreed. Most of the talk now is about the rapidly declining condition of corn crops ( drought and heat stress ) in both Europe and the US. As the world's primary feed grain, there are big implications for the base price of wheat and barley if corn supply shrinks. It emerged late Friday that three vessels are now loading corn in Chornomorsk, a Port south of Odessa, and these are expected to wait for each other before sailing in convoy across the Black Sea for Turkey later in a matter of days. Whatever those crews are being paid, it’s not enough but we wish them well. The market seems set to view this as a symbolic gesture for now, but it might react if there is news of substantially more shipments in the line-up with destinations beyond the immediate region. Failing that, we expect the positive tone of the market to hold this week. 

Home markets now have noticeably more interest from consumers for early positions. With some farms reporting yields 10-20% above expectations, there is a steady trickle of ex-farm sales to make room in the barn, most seem determined to store everything they can in anticipation of higher prices later, but these early markets are hardly cheap and sometimes it pays not to follow the majority? We can visit and have sample results to you within 24-48 hours of the first request so every opportunity to take advantage of the homes on offer- 01243 755650 is the number to call. 

Have a good week.