Demand for straw is continuing to outstrip supply across NI, maintaining a rigid floor under market prices.Prices for local barley straw put round bales in the region of £30 ex field and where available, wheat straw is selling for similar money, such is the level of buying interest.
Demand for straw is continuing to outstrip supply across NI, maintaining a rigid floor under market prices.
Prices for local barley straw put round bales in the region of £30 ex field and where available, wheat straw is selling for similar money, such is the level of buying interest.
Square 8x4x3 bales of barley straw are moving around £65 ex field or £75 delivered, with reports of 8x4x4 bales imported from the Republic of Ireland costing £90 to £95 delivered.
Wheat straw imported from south of the border is approximately £10 below barley prices for 8x4x4 bales.
Imported English straw is also holding firm at £180 to £185/t for barley straw with wheat bales making £175/t.
Weather
Local cereal farmers are still receiving high volumes of calls from customers requiring straw, but progress with combining and baling is being hindered by broken weather.
There are significant volumes of straw on the ground that have yet to be baled, and the delay in completing this task is restricting the ability of cereal farmers to meet buying demand.
Grain
Prices for grain start around £155 to £160/t for green barley at 20% moisture, rising to around £180/t for dried grain ex farm. That puts local barley at prices similar to spot markets, where imported grain is trading close to £185/t this week.
Fertiliser
Quotes for fertiliser are also steady with CAN trading around £295/t and straight nitrogen products with added sulphur costing an additional £20/t.
Compounds such as 27-5-5 are in the region of £360/t with merchants indicating low levels of buying demand at present.
Read more
Sheep price update: prices paid closer to quoted levels
Grain prices drop to lowest since March
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: