Field-to-pit silage costs have increased by £5/ac, according to the National Association of Agricultural Contractors’ (NAAC) 2019 guide. The price for the full silage service from a contractor is £64.80/ac, compared with £59.55/ac in 2018. Contractors are blaming increased machinery and labour costs for pushing farmer price up.

Baling and wrapping have also seen an increase of 73p per 120cm round bale on the year, bringing the cost to £6.22/bale with four layers of plastic. Renting a tractor (between 220hp to 300hp) with a driver costs £10 more an hour than in 2018, when it amounted to £54/hour. Meanwhile, tractors below 150hp have seen no change in pricing at £37.38/acre.

Manure spreading for rear-discharge wagons rose by £4/hour to £52.80, with side-discharged machines quoted at £56/hour, up from £42/hour last year. Sheep-shearing prices look static, with contractors typically charging £1.65/head for ewes and £3.10/head for tups. But numbers and location of the flock will make a difference to the price paid.

Ploughing averaged £25-26/ac, which is similar to last year; while conventional cereal drilling is £18.72/ac down from £20.29/ac in 2018. Combi-drill prices averaged £25/ac for the last two years. Contract combining costs on average £36.64/ac, which is up 60p/ac on the year.

The NAAC said: “Annual machinery costs continue to climb, alongside tyres and labour, and it is vital that contracting prices reflect those increases.

“Capital investment is now very significant on farms and, to manage cashflow and depreciation, over 90% of farmers are bringing in the services of a contractor to take some of the investment burden for specialist, high capital cost machinery, alongside the need to bring in skilled labour, which is in short supply.”