The cereal market does not go at its best for farmers as a result of the good interior harvest, a reduction in demand and, fundamentally, due to the high imports of surpluses of large producing countries causing a price drop in their whole.
The cereal harvest for this campaign the 23 million managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and the agricultural organizations, the 24 million of the warehouses and the more than 25 million estimated by the agri -food cooperatives. This last figure represents an increase of 15% over the 22.5 million of the previous campaign, far from the less than 11 million of the minimum harvest of 2023 consequence of the drought, but also below the record harvest of the 27.5 million of 2020.
However, consequence of the good interior harvest, but also for mass imports, one has registered, which has led to the sector below the limits of profitability. From the organization it is denounced that, with the current conditions of the markets, the farmer is losing between 50 and 60 euros per hectare and massive imports are claimed without guarantees or traceability
According to the estimate of cooperatives, wheat production will amount to 8.2 million tons; A little more than 10 million that of barley, 3.6 million corn. 1.3 million oatmeal, 0.73 million hard wheat, 0.3 million rye and 900,000 tons for other cereals.
The hectare yields have been high due to the good weather conditions in which the crops have been developed in most of the areas and place in more than 4,000 kilos in soft and barley wheat and almost 12,000 kilos in corn consequence of a campaign where, to date, they have dominated the favorable conditions since sowing to nascence and its subsequent development.
With a very important livestock cabin, especially in pigs and in poultry farming, there is traditionally a strong external dependence on raw materials for the elaboration of feed. In 2023, with a minimum harvest of just over 10 million tons for drought, imports shot up to 24 million tons. This figure is justified if it is taken into account that the total internal demand is between 36 and 37 million tons, of which 27 million corresponds to the needs for animal feed, just over five million for food and more than three million for industrial uses.
In the previous campaign, with a harvest of more than 20 million tons, imports were reduced to 16.5 million tons of which half corresponded to corn and almost the rest to the soft wheat.
Consequence of all this, prices have seen negatively affected to place barley contributions slightly below 180 euros; forage wheats below 200 euros and hard wheat at 260 euros. To this circumstance is added the adjustment of the censuses of the livestock cabins and, with it, to a lower demand.
Cereals constitute one of the pillars of agricultural activity mainly throughout continental Spain, with an average surface of more than 5.5 million hectares of cultivation and a predominance of medium farms. Apart from the specific incidents of each campaign, the sector also faces other structure problems from production to commercialization that affect its profitability.
With regard to production in the field, official data indicate, as a negative fact, a very high number of farms that operate by free. Or first degree is important, but, except for some exceptions, stronger structures such as second -degree entities are missing to have a greater influence on prices. In the commercialization, a greater organization of the offer is imposed and put on the sales operations without a price or simply as a result, where the farmer, individually, “delegates” in others to defense the results of his work and, ultimately, of his income.
The price of milk rises
Milk prices have increased by two cents from this month of July to an average of 0.51 euros per liter, coinciding with a traditional period of less supply consequence of high temperatures that affect the performance of animals and the reduction of cabins. Despite this, the price is five cents below the community average, according to the union of small farmers. Ascents of increases are maintained for September, but this does not stop the livestock adjustment due to its low profitability and the lack of generational relief.
In recent years, the sector has suffered a reduction in beef farms with dairy aptitude from 14,000 farms to less than 9,000, and a cut of the animal census in production from almost 900,000 to less than 750,000 heads, although yields per cow have increased.
Data managed by the Agaprol Producers Organization point out that milk production in 2025 will be the lowest in recent years with only 7.38 million tons compared to 7.5 million tons of 2021 and the nine million it came to produce in the last decade against a total dairy demand of about 10 million tons. This is high imports, with more than 300,000 tons of cheeses
The increase in meat prices in beef, especially for exports, has meant an oxygen ball for milk farms with the sale of calves and old cows themselves. This has also meant that milk farms have passed to the production of meat alone, currently because of their greater profitability. But with these movements there has been an adjustment in the milk supply that, in theory, should have positive effects for prices. The meat won the battle to milk.
