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Straw prices - till the pips squeak

Is 'Not Sold' on straw at £100/ton in Truro, Cornwall just plain greedy?

Livestock farmers are being put through the mill again as grain prices and straw rocket skywards. Farmers in the wet west of England, Wales and many parts of Scotland have come to rely on the lorry and trailer moving mountains of straw from east to west. For arable farmers, the straw cheque has been a useful fillip in times of low grain prices, but straw prices have remained relatively constant for a decade. Now many arable growers think the time has come to play catch up, and are happy to get all they can.

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Selling straw can be done in various ways

Off the field in swath, baled, or bales delivered - there's a choice for buyer and seller. Read the full report to find out more.

Conclusion

Livestock farmers are forced to have supplies of straw on welfare grounds. Most have no alternative but to buy in supplies. The rocketing straw price is one caused by enthusiasm from buyers at auction, be it straw off the combine in livestock areas, baled in the field, or delivered. At present everything points to the current price being a spike, and that before long the number of suppliers will begin to equal the buyers.
But the long term trends are for increasing demand. Straw has expanding uses - as fuel for carbon-neutral power stations, as insulation, and even for parts of the building industry. As farm welfare legislation continues to bite, the demand from livestock will increase.
One alternative for livestock farmers is to re-equip with slatted floors. The considerable capital cost is covered over a decade or so - much less if you make your own slats.
The current issue of Practical Farm Ideas shows a home made slatted floor maker, which has been in successful production for the past 20 years, with a 100% reliability. The slats are, in fact, bigger and stronger than commercial designs, yet by making it on the yard using well sourced chippings and fast curing cement the cost is less than a half of the commercial price.
We have a large number of pictures of the mould, a heavy steel machine that has an electric vibrator to consolidate the concrete. (to be used sparingly - 30 secs, no more)

PS
Near Carmarthen I saw a straw lorry with sheets on, one on the truck and another on the trailer. Both covered the front of the load and went 3/4 along the top, enough to stop 90% of the rain from being driven into the straw bales.

I recall loads which hadn't been sheeted arriving in wet weather and the rain went far into the bales at the front. There's no way of drying them out, it's either use quickly or watch the mould grow.

With straw at today's prices loads need to be sheeted.

Is this a lorry load of P and K being taken off the field? Or a valuable cheque in the bank?

A 3rd crop, Cordeale, on a Yorks farm shows promise, and the potential for a valuable straw cheque as well.

Home made slats from an adjustable mould that's either 8ft or 10ft wide. Practical Farm Ideas can provide numerous pictures of this machine which cuts the cost of slats in half, without compromising quality.

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