Straw trading at £120 an acre with demand due to stay high
© Tim Scrivener Livestock farmers have been keen to get hold of straw already this harvest, with supplies likely to be tight for the coming year.
The UK wheat area is forecast to be 9% lower this year at 1.56m hectares while the total barley area is looking better, up 6% at 1.2m hectares.
Low stocks of last year’s straw remain on farms after a long, wet spring kept livestock housed for longer, which has further exacerbated the supply situation.
See also: Wheat drops below £200/t despite cuts to cropping area
Shropshire-based auctioneer Halls sold about 1,600ha of straw across the West Midlands and Wales earlier in July, with winter wheat averaging £119 an acre and barley at £123 an acre.
More than 200ha of oilseed rape was also sold at auction, reaching £57.62 an acre, as well as winter oats averaging £86.74 an acre and spring oats at £66.55 an acre.
Halls consultant Peter Willcock said: “It was a very successful series of sales as there was very little straw left in store and a lot of the arable crops countrywide were affected by the very wet winter.
“Good crops achieved premium prices, and the shortage of straw resulted in prices rising throughout the sale season.”
Shrewsbury Auction Centre manager Jonny Dymond added: “There was exceptional demand for wheat straw as dairy farmers are now feeding a lot of wheat in their rations, which accounts for the high prices achieved at the sales. We are delighted that our farmers achieved high prices for their crops.”
Ex-farm prices for big square-baled wheat straw this week ranged from £70/t in the east of England to £120/t in the South West, according to the British Hay and Straw Merchants’ Association.
This compares with a range of £35-£55/t in the same week last year.
Barley straw has also almost doubled in price on the year and is trading between £70/t and £90/t for new season.