The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) is confirming that large stocks of cereals continue to overhang international markets.

According to the organisation's National Grain Committee secretary, Max Potterton, 2026 is still seeing very large harvests recorded in many of the world’s main cereal growing areas.

And in commodity pricing terms, international cereal markets may well remain in the doldrums for most of the year, he said.

One development that might militate against this prediction would be the impact of an extreme weather event.

In this specific context, the IFA representative cited the cold snaps that are currently impacting on the US, Russia, and Ukraine.

He made the comments at a recent Spring Tillage Workshop, hosted in Dundalk by Teagasc, pointing out that grain and oilseed production levels just keep on strengthening in countries like Brazil.

And there is a strong likelihood of these global trends being maintained, he noted.

Maize

Potterton specifically referenced the tremendous strides that have been made in the US where the growing of maize is concerned.

He explained: “Growers in the Corn Belt can now achieve yields of 4.7t per acre. These are crops that have been established in deep soils and not challenged by drought.

“This level of performance is almost double what can be achieved in countries such as France and Poland.

Potterton noted that this has been a sustained trend over the past decade and more.

"Yes, drought conditions will affect crop performance levels," he continued.

“However, the reality is that extreme weather events of this nature have not impacted on the main corn growing areas of the United States since 2012.”

Grain market reports

The IFA produces an Irish and international grain market report on a fortnightly basis.

The most recent update confirms the current strength of current grain and oilseed stocks.

“The United States Department of Agriculture released its first World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates of 2026 midway through January," Potterton said.

“World wheat production was increased by 4.4 megatonnes (Mt) to 842.2Mt: this is a new record.

“Wheat ending stocks climbed to 278.25Mt, up from 274.87Mt from the previous month.

Potterton added that US maize production for 2025/2026 is estimated at 432Mt, which is an increase of 54.1Mt on 2024/2025 levels.

“Global soybean production levels have also been revised upwards by 3.14Mt to 425.68Mt," he said.

“Production in Brazil is expected to account for 178Mt alone.”