A base price for good-quality straw of €20/bale (4x4) out of the field is being offered in the midlands, south and southeast this week.

However, prices are reported to be hardening as demand is significantly outstripping the available supply.

One Wexford farmer claimed that up to €25/bale has been paid for straw, which was saved in the fine weather over the last few days. This is more than double last year’s price.

“Straw can’t be got for €20/bale. The talk is that up to €25 is being paid for 4x4s and €55/bale for 8x4x3s,” the farmer maintained.

Cereal growers in Laois and south Tipperary said that €18 to €20/bale was being paid for straw out of the field.

Around €15 to €16/bale was being quoted to local customers in Kildare, with up to €20 being charged for “outside” buyers.

With yields back, and a lot of product chopped this harvest, the volume of straw available for sale is estimated to be back at least 40%.

One industry source pointed out that unless crops were yielding at least five bales per acre – and most are getting around four – chopping the straw made more sense than baling it.

Traders in the west said that demand for straw has just clicked into gear, with more enquiries for loads over the last 10 days. However, there was no certainty around prices.

Small quantities of straw from England have been sold in the Republic. This is available for €185/t or around €30/bale (4x4).

Armagh-based trader John Fearon is importing seven or eight loads of English straw per week, primarily for Northern Irish farmers. He also buys between 10 and 12 loads of Irish straw weekly.

Although a small proportion of the English straw that Fearon imports goes south each year, the trader maintained that this was unlikely to increase significantly despite the expected shortfall in straw stocks this autumn.

Fearon said the number of enquiries from farmers in the Republic to date did not suggest a surge in business.