Worldwide issues drive up markets for grains (From Hereford Times)

Anthony Davies column re grain

7:00am Saturday 28th January 2012 in Farming

Trading explains how the changing weather around the world has affected the markets.

WORLDWIDE weather issues are seeing speculators return to the commodity markets.

Up until the middle of January some areas of South America have seen more than 50 days without rain, which has excited the market in that continent and driven our markets up by more than 12 per cent.

The conditions here during the past 12 months have also made people sit up and take notice with the warmest April and the driest spring on record.

In some areas of the country, the driest overall 12 months were recorded and even though over the past few weeks we have seen significant rainfall, it has only just touched the surface.

And the way this winter is panning out, I would put money that it will be warmest on record.

These continued freak weather conditions all point towards market volatility again.

If you can believe the hype then Germany, the Eastern Bloc and Canada all had germinations problems with wheat in the autumn, due to the lack of moisture, causing up to 30 per cent losses in some areas.

This may not affect the remains of this selling season dramatically as grain stores are still bulging worldwide and there is limited demand due to the mild winter.

With spring plantings looming, be sure to pick the right crops to maximise your harvest profits.

There is a sign of high demand for certain pulses and malting barley varieties for next season.

So when picking your variety do not be led by fancy spiel and glossy adverts – go with the proven winners. For example, Fuego and Wizard are the most sought-after spring beans for human consumption.

Meanwhile Quench, NFC Tipple and Propino are the true maltster favourites.

To sum up, winter is reaching its climax, wheat has returned to post -harvest position and hopefully the grains markets are aiming for sustainable levels.