Straw values drop as new season supply comes on stream

The sale value of winter barley straw has fallen by more than £40/t in many regions over the past 10 days, with the increased availability of new season crop easing tight supplies and pushing prices down to between £60/t and £70/t.

The British Hay and Straw Merchants Association (BHSMA) has reported significant falls in the regional “buy-in” prices – the ex-farm prices merchants pay growers – for winter barley straw in the week ending 25 July.

For example, it suggests the buy-in price of big square-baled barley straw in the south-west of England eased from £130/t in the week ending 18 July to £75/t last week.

See also: High demand for best quality straw sees competitive bidding

In the East Midlands, the price dropped from £110/t to £63/t, with similar-sized falls also being recorded in the South, South East, North East and central Midlands.

Note: Prices are the merchants’ buying-in prices in £/t ex-farm as supplied by the British Hay and Straw Merchants Association for the week ending 25 July. * New season crop.

Mike Evison, a straw merchant and contractor based in East Yorkshire and a former president of the BHSMA, said crops were good and producing above average yields.

However, farmers were not willing to sell for less than £60-70/t.

“Every barn needs filling, so if people aren’t getting £60-70/t then they are filling their own barn and will look at selling it later.”

Correction: The hay and straw prices on p137 of 23 July issue of Farmers Weekly were incorrectly dated as week ending 25 July. The prices published were for the previous week, ending 18 July.