Early straw auction sees prices rocket
© Tim Scrivener Exceptional demand for straw saw average prices rocket to more than £130/t at one of the first auctions of the year.
In response to demand from trade buyers struggling to secure supplies, Gloucester-based Tayler & Fletcher held an ‘extraordinary’ sale of about 1,000t at Stow-on-the-Wold on Thursday (22 Oct).
This is a month earlier than the firm traditionally starts its winter programme of regular straw auctions.
See also: Straw prices continue to rise in varying regional market
Only 20 lots were on offer, but all sold, attracting multiple bids from buyers who were mainly dealers.
Adrian Cannon, partner at Taylor & Fletcher, said the auction pointed to exceptional demand for straw and reflected the difficulty dealers were having in getting farmers to release straw onto the market because they can’t agree on a price.
All lots were sold by the bale, with spring barley straw topping out at £62/bale for a lot of 500 firm, tight MF2270XD spring barley bales (0.9 x 1.2m x 2.4m).
The same seller achieved £63/bale for 120 wheat bales of the same size.
Mr Cannon said if the day’s prices were converted to £/t, then wheat straw had averaged £138/t, ranging from a low of £130/t to a high of £147/t.
Spring barley straw averaged £133/t, with a range of £102/t to £160/t.