While cereal prices look set to remain at high levels for the foreseeable future, a good dry warm summer with sufficient supplies of rain, appears to have allowed for sufficient grass and straw growth to ensure last year’s forage values are maintained.

However, with such localised weather both north and south of the Border, there are huge differences in crop growth. The good news is, those areas in the west and east that experienced drought conditions for much of the summer have since witnessed sufficient rainfall to witness phenomenal grass growth, which in turn has bolstered a third cut of silage after a poor second cut.

In contrast, England and Wales have experienced a much wetter summer compared to farmers north of the Border, which in turn makes them now reliant on Scottish growers for quality forages, according to some forage merchants.

“We’ve had some cracking weather for making hay and there is a lot of good hay made, but there is also some bad stuff out there too,” said Perthshire-based forage merchant, Kenny Johnston, adding that prices were much the same as last year at this time.

“We’ve already moved a lot of hay and some to south of the Border, and for once straw is coming up from the south, so there shouldn’t be the same supply issues up here compared to last year.”

However, he warned that hay, silage and straw supplies, were very much dependant on the area and when crops were sown. Later sown spring cereal crops hit by the frost in April and then suffered from extremely dry weather, had seen reduced straw yields, whereas earlier sown crops are showing similar yields to 2021.

The other good news is most cereal producers in Scotland will have finished the harvest this weekend and before the weather breaks, Mr Johnston said.

Further south, Will Pringle, of Gloucester-based Philip Judge Fodder Merchants, said Scotland had experienced far better weather for making hay.

“Prices are lower than what they were earlier this year and throughout 2020. Last year, we were delivering hay at up to £140 per tonne and barley and wheat straw at £120-£135 per tonne.

“This year, values are nearer £95-£100 per tonne delivered for wheat and barley straw and hay will be of a similar price,” he said.

Latest spot market prices from the British Hay and Straw Merchants Association for new season supplies ex-farm show big bale hay priced at £65 per tonne; big square bales of barley straw at £62/t and big square bales of wheat straw being marketed at £55/t.