August 24, 2010

The Irish Grain and Feed Association (IGFA) has called for action by the European Commission to tackle escalating prices of animal feed by releasing intervention stocks to ease the market.

IGFA Director Deirdre Webb said both IGFA and the European feed association, Fefac, have been lobbying the Commission.

They want it to immediately release part of the five million tonnes of EU intervention barley stocks and to remove levies on EU imports of feed ingredients.

The levy on imported corn into Ireland at present is EUR9 (US$11.35)/tonne, which is EUR5 (US$6.30)/tonne higher than in Spain and Portugal.

"It is unacceptable that the EU Council of Ministers should continue to support a system of levies that penalises Irish and EU livestock farmers while other countries are imposing export bans in order to protect their own consumers," she said.

Deirdre Webb said the dramatic increase in the price of wheat on the EU futures market has been fuelled by speculators and by international problems, such as the grain export ban imposed by the Russian government.

While wheat has been the main driver, other feed materials have followed the wheat market upwards.

Most users of compound feed ingredients are short of feed material supplies at present and will be forced to purchase at least some supplies at these elevated price levels.

"This will lead to price rises. Based on current price levels, we are looking at an increase of EUR40-50 (US$50.45-$63.03) per tonne in the price of compound feed," she said.