Glanbia announces grain prices it will pay to Kilkenny farmers

Glanbia has announced it will pay its Kilkenny members €210/tonne for green feed barley and €220/t for green feed wheat, with premium grains delivering strong additional returns for growers.

In a statement, Glanbia Ireland said its dedicated grains team “has worked with farmers to substantially expand the area sown to value-added premium crops”.

More than 40% of the total grain intake delivers a market premium for growers, the company confirmed.

Over €2 million in premiums over and above the feed price will be paid to farmers for delivering food-grade and other value-added crops in Harvest 2021. This is equivalent of a premium of over €20/tonne on average for value-added grains.

Premium crops such as High Erucic Acid Rapeseed (HEAR) delivered €575/t, with gluten-free oats at €260/t returning strongly for growers.

Commenting on the announcement, Glanbia Co-op Chairman John Murphy said: “The strong worldwide markets for grains was evident in 2021. It was good to note that Harvest 2021 was one of the best for growers in the last 20 years with prices and yields well above the long-term averages.

“It is welcome to see the strong premiums that value-added crops are delivering for growers.

“We are completing a state-of-the-art R&D facility on site in Ballyragget which will give us significant capabilities for our talented team of food technologists to work with the top quality grains from our family farms to develop new and exciting opportunities for food ingredients.”