UK: Grain harvest 2023 gross margins

Wheat

Seeds / Oil Seeds

United Kingdom

Price

Grain & Cereals

Published Mar 1, 2023

Tridge summary

The article discusses the impact of fluctuating input costs and volatile grain and oilseed markets on farm business profitability, with a focus on the new crop UK feed wheat futures for 2023. It highlights the effects of high input costs, especially imported ammonium nitrate (AN), and the strategic purchasing of fertilizer on profitability. Despite historically high global wheat prices due to the war in Ukraine, milling wheat and feed wheat are still the most profitable crops for 2023, followed by spring malting barley, oilseed rape, linseed, winter oilseed rape, winter feed barley, spring milling oats, and winter feed beans. The article emphasizes that how and when farmers purchased their fertilizer significantly influences their gross margin picture for 2023, and suggests that some farmers are reducing their fertilizer application to cut costs. It also mentions that grain and oilseed prices are currently strong but much lower than the previous season, and that cash flow remains a concern due to these high prices. The article promotes Farmbench as a tool to assess farm performance and offers a link for comparing 2023 gross margins with the previous year.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Fluctuating input costs and volatile grain and oilseed markets continue to add uncertainty to farm business profitability. New crop UK feed wheat futures (Nov-23) averaged £233.34/t in February, up 14.6% on the year from last year’s new crop futures, when the Nov-22 contract averaged £203.59/t in February. From reaching their peak in May, global wheat prices have eased somewhat, though remain historically high as the war in Ukraine provides a floor of support to markets. While declining as of late, input costs this season remain high. From July 2022 to January 2023 imported ammonium nitrate (AN) (34.5% N) averaged £784.00/t, up 34.4% from last seasons (2021/22) average of £583.00/t. Today, I take a look at how this changing picture could impact gross margins for harvest 2023. The aim of these figures is not to directly indicate how much profit can be made by each crop, as costs will differ from farm to farm. It is more to give an indicative view into the difference in ...

Source: Ahdb