Farmers and merchants have reported steady sales in straw around the country.

Supplies in the east and south are improving in some areas as farmers take advantage of a break in weather to harvest crops and bale straw.

This is in contrast to the west and northern half of the country where the harvest is slow and, as such, straw supply is tighter.

Best price in straw

It is therefore not surprising that location continues to be the biggest factor in price.

At a glance, prices reported at €10 for a 4x4 round bale in Wexford are the lowest, while up to €20 per bale was quoted in parts of the north and northwest.

The predominantly tillage counties in the east and south of the country remain the cheapest places to purchase straw.

Prices in the east tend to range from €10 to €15 per bale, these are prices for straw sold out of the field.

The highest price quoted for a 4X4 round bale in the east was €15 in Louth.

Prices quoted in Meath, Carlow, Laois, Kilkenny and Cork were all averaging €12 per bale.

Connacht and Ulster

On the other hand, prices quoted in Connacht and Ulster have shown a slight increase.

This is due to an increase in demand with a number of farmers having to house cattle in the past few weeks. In Mayo, prices are generally ranging from €15 to €17 per bale.

In Donegal and parts of Leitrim, straw prices have been reported to reach highs of close to €20 per bale.

Delivery

The delivery cost of bales across the country is again driving up prices for farmers buying in the North and west.

Depending on where you are located and the length of the draw, haulage costs can range anywhere from €5 to €10 in general, with the longest hauls rising to €15 per bale.

For these long-haul deliveries, it is more economical to transport square bales to increase the volume of straw transported.

Square bales

Demand for 8x4x3 bales again remains strong with prices averaging €25/bale.

Highs of €33 per bale have been noted in some parts of the country.

Bigger 8x4x4 bales are averaging around €32 per bale out of the field, with some bales reaching prices as high as €40/bale in northern parts of the country.

Silage and hay prices

There has been less silage and hay reported for sale by farmers in the past week.

This has been evident more in the west and north, with some farmers becoming more cautious over weather and the potential of earlier housing and deciding to delay sales.

Round bales of hay are ranging from as low as €12 quoted by one Kildare seller up to €30/bale quoted in parts of Cavan, Leitrim and Donegal.

The average price of a round bale of hay around the country looks to be somewhere in the region of €22/bale.

Prices in Monaghan, Laois, Kerry and Carlow are quite similar for a bale of hay, with prices ranging from €17 to €22.

While €20/bale was quoted in counties Louth, Meath, and Tipperary.

There is a larger number of second-cut silage bales on the market in parts of the Munster and Leinster.

Eighteen euro in Kilkenny was the cheapest price quoted for top-quality silage around the country, with €27 per bale the highest price quoted in Galway.

This is a quoted price, with general prices much lower.

Quality and costs

Quality is also having a huge influence on the cost of silage, with some farmers struggling to cover the cost of making bales for sales of lower-quality forage.

The average asking price of a bale of top-quality silage is around €22/bale.

In the midlands, prices are generally coming in at €19 to €23/bale.

All prices quoted for hay and silage exclude delivery.

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