The wet autumn last year resulted in lower levels of planting and continued poor weather has caused winter losses.

Alistair Hodnett of Hodnett Scotland, who trades in grain, feeds, fertilisers and straw said: “Winter crops are not looking too fantastic at the moment, which will be a challenge come August, however things can change dramatically.

“It looks like it is going to be another late spring so time will tell for spring crops this year.

“Straw prices have held up well this season due to the scarcity and people are certainly still looking for it as they are not able to get livestock outside onto grass. Prices will remain firm into next season now.

“In Ireland, the straw incorporation measure is payment for chopping straw and incorporating it into the soil, which results in farmers still needing baled straw and with the drought in France and Spain, where they would normally source their crop, meant they have come here to Scotland, again pushing that supply short.

“Silage on the other hand has been the complete opposite, last year was a good year for growing grass and there has been plenty of silage made. There is not a huge demand for it and if someone is looking, I am sure their neighbour will have crop to sell.

“This could have been down to fertiliser prices taking a drop last year too and perhaps people increased their intake as well as using the substance more efficiently.

“Other ways farmers have perhaps saved on silage is turnips and fodder beat, both are cheaper alternatives with plenty available. Feed barley has also been relatively cheap this year,” he said, trading at £155 ex farm per tonne of barley.

“Barley has been a funny one this year, it has been up to £165/t and then dropped down to £145/t with demand unchanged. Perhaps just following other trends,” he added, with wheat sitting at £185/t for immediate movement.

Barley was the only cereal to see a rise in usage, increasing by 2.9% this season. Wheat was down 0.3%, oats back 29% and maize back 12% according to AHDB.

Barley is currently being used heavily in feed rations due to its discount to other cereals.

“Weather plays such a huge part in growing crops, and I just hope it sorts itself out as that will help solve a lot of problems,” said Mr Hodnett.

Trainee auctioneer, Harvey Stuart, based at Stonehaven for Aberdeen and Northern Marts reported similar price trends in the North East.

“Straw is in higher demand than ever, with hay and silage still proving hard to cash,” he said, with spring barley straw selling to £24/bale for inside stored 4ft bales and averaged £17.27 for 774 bales sold with wheat straw peaking at £19.50 for 40 bales sold.

“Straw is a lot dearer on the year as there is a lot less straw on the ground.

“On the flip side there has been a fair crop of silage taken in the area so there is a lot more of it about. This could change if we get a wet April or could disappear if we get a warm dry month.

“Also, notably there is a lot less cattle about to eat it with numbers continuing to fall,” he added, with bales of silage making £15/bale for 150 bales sold.

“We are selling turnips less frequently however they have been very similar on the year, averaging £38/t delivered. The demand really varies for this type of crop as it just depends on the system,” said Mr Stuart.

On Monday, Harrison and Hetherington held their weekly sale of crop at Borderway mart, Carlisle, where round bales of barley straw reached £49/bale, whilst round bales of hay and square bales of haylage sold for £38 and £32/bale respectively.

Helping to engage on the shortage of crops, a tariff of up to 50% on Russian and Belarussian grain imports has been proposed by the European Commission to combat the risk of market destabilisation. The new tariffs are designed to be high enough to discourage current imports.

UK feed wheat futures rose following the global trend according to AHDB figures.

Recent figures show May-24 feed wheat futures gained £11.20/t (7%) to close at £175.70/t, with the Nov-24 contract up £10.30/t (6%) to £195.60/t. Meanwhile, May-24 Paris milling wheat futures gained 6%, with Chicago wheat futures up 5%.

Bread wheat for delivery to North West in May was quoted at £260.50/t, up £7/t week-on-week, with the premium to May-24 futures holding firm.

Global wheat markets also rose for the week ending March 22, with May-24 Paris futures reaching its highest level since early February and May-24 Chicago wheat at its highest since March 4. The initial price rise was attributed to conflict escalations in the Black Sea region, and news that the EU will impose tariffs on Russian grain imports.