Spain: Forages also raise their prices due to the drought

Fodder for livestock feed is also experiencing the ravages of the weather in recent months, marked by high temperatures and drought. The lack of pasture due to the lack of rainfall is causing its market to close a campaign that is weighing down livestock throughout Spain, Castilla-La Mancha and Ciudad Real. "There are beginning to be difficulties due to the lower supply from farmers," explains Rafael Díaz, a rancher from Villahermosa, who warns of the high price of straw -bales of wheat, oats or barley-, and fodder alfalfa or vetch- "before the rise of demand by Arab countries. Specifically, the prices of these by-products have increased by up to 70%, according to Díaz, from between 200 and 220 euros per ton last year, to 340 and 360 euros this year “if you find them”. According to the last session of the forage market in León, which is a benchmark, the prices of alfalfa in raw packages are at 264 euros per ton, after rising 12 euros, and that of dehydrated alfalfa has been quoted ...