Market Watch
Maybe markets will settle down sometime over the next six months. Maybe they won’t. Maybe we just are in a new era of seed production. Whatever the future holds, it is rather fascinating that while we can produce higher yields and can harvest/clean/bag with more efficiency, prices still increase, even when demand doesn’t. The matrix of inputs is head-spinning: Fertilizer costs, land costs, alternative crops, labor limitations, government regulations, etc. That said, here is a look at some current market movement:
Orchardgrass. Up again. Should soften some for new crop, but don’t look for major price drops.
Tall Fescue. If there is a significant drop in the market for new crop it will have to come due to a large Oregon crop, not KY-31.
Bluegrass. $1 plus common may be the norm.
Creeping Red Fescue. No indication for softening anytime soon.
Perennial ryegrass. Although carryover will be large, don’t look for too much price adjustment. No one is optimistic about new crop yields.
Annual ryegrass. Steady, but wouldn’t take much to kick the price up 5-10%
A Look Back in Time
David Keister found a Summary of Ryegrass Prices for the years 1983-1988. We thought you might enjoy the look into the past.
| Annual | Perennial | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Spring | New Crop | Spring | New Crop |
| 1988 | $18.75 | $19.50 | $57.00 | $48.00 |
| 1987 | $15.00 | $14.50 | $68.00 | $48.00 |
| 1987 | $12.00 | $12.50 | $48.00 | $43.00 |
| 1985 | $12.50 | $13.25 | $25.00 | $25.00 |
| 1984 | $15.25 | $14.50 | $27.00 | $23.00 |
| 1983 | $11.25 | $13.00 | $32.00 | $31.00 |
Make room for this one!
If you need a top-performing EXTRA dark perennial ryegrass, we now have you covered. NEXUS XD is a selection out of Nexus and other germplasms looking for even darker green color, higher tiller density, fine-leaf texture and disease resistance. Initial NTEP results (2005 data) scored NEXUS XD as a 7.8 for genetic color. No other variety had a higher genetic color rating.
Another exciting piece of data from the first year NTEP trials is that NEXUS XD appears to have excellent resistance to the herbicide Velocity® Herbicide (bispyrabac sodium) used to suppresses poa annua, poa trivialis, and many broadleaf weeds. You can see this data yourself at www.ntep.org. 2006 NTEP data should be out within the next month or so. Limited supplies available!
NTEP Trial Data
| Variety | Genetic Color | Velocity Resistance |
|---|---|---|
| Highest Score | 7.8 | 9.0 |
| Nexus XD | 7.8 | 9.0 |
| Lowest Score | 3.4 | 1.0 |
| LSD | 0.3 | 1.1 |
Get it Electronically
For those of you who receive this newsletter via fax, we are very glad to also offer both our price sheet and Monthly Newsletter electronically. Simply call or write Jonathan at 888-550-2930 or jonathan@smithseed.com to request the change. Additionally, you can look at and download all previous newsletters at www.SmithSeed.com under the Resource Library link.