Straw short & prices are up
Straw short & prices are up
STRAW continues to sell well, with less available than last season.
Prices were slightly up on last year at Russell Baldwin and Brights Hereford auction last week. But other fodder prices were down, says auctioneer Mike Evans, reflecting the plentiful silage crops and lower livestock numbers.
"Round-baled silage, for example, averaging £5.17 a bale doesnt even cover the cost of producing it."
Richard Lane of EA Lane and Sons agrees straw is generally in short supply. "Small bales are labour intensive, difficult to handle and have gone out of fashion. But at the current money, they probably pay."
According to Chris Jones of McCartneys, the higher prices of straw – combined with lower returns for finished stock – represent a "double blow for the livestock producer".
At McCartneys fodder sale at Ludlow last week, silage was making between £5 and £8 a bale, with small-baled oat and wheat straw trading at about £45/t.
Some farmers, says Mr Jones, will be wishing they had bid a bit harder for standing straw last summer.
Cattle go on the wagon at Newark, Notts, on Monday. This was a day when steers, bulls and heifers averaged 103.8p, 102p and 99.7p/kg, respectively.