With a stable and buoyant trade for both cattle and sheep, combined with the exceptional weather across the UK over the past fortnight, grass letting prices are holding up strongly on the year.
To date, demand remains high for all types of grass with good fenced lettings that have been fertilised and provide efficient handling facilities being easily sold, according to those in the know.
“Young grass that is herded with good pens and that has been fertilised is selling between £240 and £300 per acre”, said Iain Dick of Harrison and Hetherington’s St. Boswells Mart. “Older grass is very similar on the year, with rougher parts selling for £120 to £140, per acre.
Further north, Luke Holmes, auctioneer at Dingwall and Highland Marts’ Dingwall centre commenting on their buoyant grass lettings sale on March 27. “Fertilised ground that farmers could cut for silage was selling at £250 an acre, with good grazing ground sitting at £180-£250, which was slightly up on the year. Rough extensive ground for cattle and sheep was trading at £50-£80, while real hill ground averaged at £30”.
Demand for grass was equally contested in Ayrshire, with auctioneers Craig Wilson, who are based in Ayr and Newton Stewart seeing prices on a par with 2024 “Good quality ground was topped at £200 an acre”, said director and auctioneer Drew Kennedy.
“The same people were looking to take the ground they had leased last year, when they can return a good profit with the current high prices achieved for stock through the ring,” said Mr Kennedy who added that they had seen a few new people interested in grazings.
Backing up these statements, Oliver Shearman, managing director of Caledonian Marts said: “Ground is too expensive for new entrants to buy, so many farmers rent additional grazing ground for their stock. It’s mostly neighbouring farmers who are looking to take on such grazings.
"They aren’t making land anymore, so any ground that becomes available, particularly within the Central Belt, is rented out very quickly,” he said.
At their grass lets sale, Caledonian marts saw prices of £90-£130 per acre for rougher ground without entitlements.
Aberdeen and Northern Mart’s staged their first online sale of grass on Tuesday which was the first of a three-week series of lettings throughout April. John Angus, head of livestock said a top price of £240 per acre was achieved for fertilised ground, and that sheep-only grass was harder to sell, particularly lots with sub-standard fencing.
He added that with farmers being busy lambing, calving and carrying out spring fieldwork, it would seem that land that requires any infrastructure repairs to be carried out to reduce the risk of stock escaping, is not in demand in the north-east.
Despite the continued optimism within the beef and sheep sector, it does however remain to be seen as to whether rented grass will be used to increase the size of individual breeding cattle herds.
“Even with record high deadweight prices, we aren’t really seeing people buying in heifers from the ring to keep for breeding. With the average age of farmers, and the problem of labour, we haven’t seen many farmers looking to increase herd numbers,” said Mr Angus.
However, with the cow and calves sales beginning at the end of the month at ANM’s Thainstone Centre, Mr Angus commented that: “farmers might want to buy one step down the line from buying in just heifers, so we can expect a brisk trade at our first sale on April 30.”
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