Prices for 4X4 round bales of straw are readily reaching €25/bale delivered to the farmer’s yard. These prices are up, on average, €5/bale on previous years.

Western farmers usually buy their straw from tillage farmers in the west or have it transported from tillage farmers in the midlands or east.

The wet harvest has put pressure on supplies and this has led to price increases.

Dan McCarthy is the mart manager in Kenmare Mart. The mart buys in straw for selling to customers in the area. Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, McCarthy said farmers are getting worried over supply and price

“Yeah, things are getting tight and it’s harder to get straw for sure this year,” McCarthy said.

“We’re lucky enough that we have a fella in Tipperary that we get our straw from but there’s definitely less of it this year. There’s the price too then. It’s looking like it’s going to be more expensive for everyone.

“Straw is at short supply. Farmers in our area have plenty of silage and plenty of hay but straw is a big problem,” McCarthy said.

David O'Brien from Cork was one of the victims of this year's harvest.

Support package

Meanwhile, IFA president Joe Healy has again urged Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to roll out a compensation package for tillage farmers who were hit by the wet summer and resulting poor harvest.

“The 2016 harvest has proved to be one of the most difficult in living memory for many tillage farmers operating essentially west of a line from south of Cork city to Donegal,” Healy said.

“Crop losses in these areas ranged from 25% to 50%, with some individual fields effectively a 100% write-off. Straw is a valuable byproduct and growers suffered losses in excess of 50% ... The minister, as a matter of urgency, must put in place an aid package for the small number of growers affected, such is the scale of financial losses that they face,” Healy added.