The 60th Adkin Annual Sale of Hay & Straw was held live online this year as, due to Covid-19 Regulations, it was not possible to hold it at the usual venue. The online format seemed to work well, with many buyers bidding online, and those who were not comfortable to do so, bidding on the telephone. This is the fourth year that the sale has been held in conjunction with Thimbleby & Shorland, in order to maintain this important service to the local farming community. Again, the trade was in marked contrast to last year, with strong demand for meadow hay in particular. The top price of £44.50 per bale is almost 2 and a half times more than the equivalent bales made last year. The lack of supply of both hay and straw was evident, with the volume well down on previous years due to the extreme weather last Winter and Spring.
Auctioneer Chris Boreham said “The trade for hay was very strong, mainly from local buyers supplying the horse market. There is a real shortage of fodder about. Given the dry Spring the yields were down, but the quality was very good. There was significantly less straw entered this year, again yields were well down, and a lot of straw was traded at harvest as the shortage was predictable. In contrast to the hay trade, the straw buyers are mainly supplying livestock farmers in the west. There was 100% clearance of all bar a small quantity of conventional bales of hay, the market for which seems to be weaker as most buyers are now looking for big bales”
Thanks go to all parties for continuing to support the sale. As predicted in the post-sale report last year, the very testing 2019/20 winter and the shortage of winter-drilled crops certainly had an impact on this year’s market. No such predictions this year!
HAY
Meadow
Big Bales
Claas 2100 bales Meadow Hay to £44.50 per bale (approximately £178/tonne) (Marcham Farms Ltd), average £148/tonne. 100% clearance
Conventional Bales
£4.35 per bale (Mr A Franklin), 67% clearance
Seeds
Big Bales
4 string bales Timothy/Ryegrass Hay £41.25 per bale (G D Lay & Partners), 100% clearance
STRAW
Barley Straw
Big Bales
Claas 3200 bales to £45 per bale (Delafield Bros). Average approximately £130/tonne. 100% clearance
Wheat Straw
Big Bales
MF 2140 bales to £26.36 per bale (Bitmead Cholsey Partnership). Average approximately £130/tonne. 100% clearance
For more information please contact Chris Boreham on 0118 950 8611 or email chris@tsauction.co.uk