Straw Prices

There seems to be serious downwards pressure on straw prices now. Someone in Laois is selling it for 9 euro a bale. Take out the cost of baling and he has 6 euro odd for a bale of straw. Where's the sense in that?. At that price I'm going to have cattle laying in luxury this winter because not one bale will leave here at that stupid price.
The brother and I were talking earlier and we might have a trial of shoving bales into the chopper for bedding and seeing how it spreads out the chopped straw.
 
There seems to be serious downwards pressure on straw prices now. Someone in Laois is selling it for 9 euro a bale. Take out the cost of baling and he has 6 euro odd for a bale of straw. Where's the sense in that?. At that price I'm going to have cattle laying in luxury this winter because not one bale will leave here at that stupid price.
The brother and I were talking earlier and we might have a trial of shoving bales into the chopper for bedding and seeing how it spreads out the chopped straw.

This is madness,

I see a grower in Donegal chopping his barley straw because the weather is just too catchy, Donegal is a nett importer of straw.
Spoke to a Cork grower today who is going to it the last remaining 20 acres of winter barley straw up the chute of a silage harvester.

Maybe it’s my imagination but there seems to be more chopping going on this year than I remember in any recent year. This combined with a broken harvest and a reduced cereal acreage makes it hard for me to see anything but a very strong price increase due to scarcity, especially if we get a longish winter.
We have everything baled, some wheat gone for mushrooms and everything else stashed indoors. We can chop next year if it’s still hanging around.
 
Straw was all hip 5 to 10 yrs ago with Keenan system were horsing it into TMR diets, needlessly I would say. I used use all of straw for feeding and bedding, but cost became prohibitive, to such a point now I would only be feeding it as last resort and bedding for anything other than a baby calf I wouldnt be able to afford. At the price I can afford to pay for a decent amount of straw, it's much better value for the cereal farmer to chop it back into the ground. I cant afford to haul such a low value product a good distance, as most Baler drivers seem incapable of packing proper kgs into bales. I'm happy to buy by the ton. In the past I had artics in at 21tons, but had loads back to 14 tons which is nonsense
 
Straw was all hip 5 to 10 yrs ago with Keenan system were horsing it into TMR diets, needlessly I would say. I used use all of straw for feeding and bedding, but cost became prohibitive, to such a point now I would only be feeding it as last resort and bedding for anything other than a baby calf I wouldnt be able to afford. At the price I can afford to pay for a decent amount of straw, it's much better value for the cereal farmer to chop it back into the ground. I cant afford to haul such a low value product a good distance, as most Baler drivers seem incapable of packing proper kgs into bales. I'm happy to buy by the ton. In the past I had artics in at 21tons, but had loads back to 14 tons which is nonsense

21 ton, was that rounds or square bales, seems a heavy load for straw
 
Straw was all hip 5 to 10 yrs ago with Keenan system were horsing it into TMR diets, needlessly I would say. I used use all of straw for feeding and bedding, but cost became prohibitive, to such a point now I would only be feeding it as last resort and bedding for anything other than a baby calf I wouldnt be able to afford. At the price I can afford to pay for a decent amount of straw, it's much better value for the cereal farmer to chop it back into the ground. I cant afford to haul such a low value product a good distance, as most Baler drivers seem incapable of packing proper kgs into bales. I'm happy to buy by the ton. In the past I had artics in at 21tons, but had loads back to 14 tons which is nonsense
What did you replace the straw with?
 
There seems to be serious downwards pressure on straw prices now. Someone in Laois is selling it for 9 euro a bale. Take out the cost of baling and he has 6 euro odd for a bale of straw. Where's the sense in that?. At that price I'm going to have cattle laying in luxury this winter because not one bale will leave here at that stupid price.
The brother and I were talking earlier and we might have a trial of shoving bales into the chopper for bedding and seeing how it spreads out the chopped straw.

Neighbour is selling barley straw for €9.
Was on the ledge for the two weeks of bad weather, he wuffled it last Saturday and baled it on Sunday with plenty of damp lumps in it.
€5 would be too much for it
 
Seems to be a race to the bottom with prices, no one is buying until someone eventually puts up straw at €6 for a 4x4 them that'll be the market price. A buyer will then look a the bales and they'll be too yellow, too brown, wrong colour net, wrong texture etc. Then will offer a fiver to the farmer who has no shed to put it in and he gets it. Meanwhile every dealer hears of the fiver for bales and won't pay any more. People can have short memories when it suits them. €15 is not dear for any 4x4 straw.
 
€12.50 for 4x4 barley straw is the first concrete price I've heard for a done deal, I know both the seller and the buyer.
 
Straw was all hip 5 to 10 yrs ago with Keenan system were horsing it into TMR diets, needlessly I would say. I used use all of straw for feeding and bedding, but cost became prohibitive, to such a point now I would only be feeding it as last resort and bedding for anything other than a baby calf I wouldnt be able to afford. At the price I can afford to pay for a decent amount of straw, it's much better value for the cereal farmer to chop it back into the ground. I cant afford to haul such a low value product a good distance, as most Baler drivers seem incapable of packing proper kgs into bales. I'm happy to buy by the ton. In the past I had artics in at 21tons, but had loads back to 14 tons which is nonsense
I was asked could I take half the knives out of the SPFH to chop longer as straw cost too much last year, same lad has paid someone dearly to make a heap of round bales, could he not just chuck a few in the diet feeder.
 
Seems to be a race to the bottom with prices, no one is buying until someone eventually puts up straw at €6 for a 4x4 them that'll be the market price. A buyer will then look a the bales and they'll be too yellow, too brown, wrong colour net, wrong texture etc. Then will offer a fiver to the farmer who has no shed to put it in and he gets it. Meanwhile every dealer hears of the fiver for bales and won't pay any more. People can have short memories when it suits them. €15 is not dear for any 4x4 straw.
Why worry about the next man been short of straw whenever. Just chop it back into the ground and have no hassle, no compaction loading straw, messing turning it and no contractor to pay to bale it. €12 a bale off the field is worth more to the soil I would think, when you account for carbon aswell.
 
Straw was all hip 5 to 10 yrs ago with Keenan system were horsing it into TMR diets, needlessly I would say. I used use all of straw for feeding and bedding, but cost became prohibitive, to such a point now I would only be feeding it as last resort and bedding for anything other than a baby calf I wouldnt be able to afford. At the price I can afford to pay for a decent amount of straw, it's much better value for the cereal farmer to chop it back into the ground. I cant afford to haul such a low value product a good distance, as most Baler drivers seem incapable of packing proper kgs into bales. I'm happy to buy by the ton. In the past I had artics in at 21tons, but had loads back to 14 tons which is nonsense

Straw is finished, you’re right it was a fashion thing all along. Peat is the future. Won’t be feeding any straw here either, 2kg of peat to the finishers will do a serious job.

The keenan lads have you well soured, at least you got the vaccine.
 
Mushroom straw lads around here giving 20 euro a 8x4x4 for wheat straw, I think it's there way of giving the middle finger to grain men for what went on last year.
 
Straw is finished, you’re right it was a fashion thing all along. Peat is the future. Won’t be feeding any straw here either, 2kg of peat to the finishers will do a serious job.

The keenan lads have you well soured, at least you got the vaccine.

I cant see why you would see any future in peat as It most definitely shouldn't be extracted for any reason IMO

Properly constructed forage diet shouldn't require straw as roughage.

Keenan are only salesmen, feeder here in the yard is the best machine or the biggest PIA depending on how you look at it
 
I cant see why you would see any future in peat as It most definitely shouldn't be extracted for any reason IMO

Properly constructed forage diet shouldn't require straw as roughage.

Keenan are only salesmen, feeder here in the yard is the best machine or the biggest PIA depending on how you look at it
What would you use/recommend as roughage so?
 
What would you use/recommend as roughage so?
Depends what animals. Finishing cattle here and diet is mineralised silage with medium NDF, crimp barley and sprinkle of Oats. If farmers feeding animals used more quality native products instead of importing and been pushed unbalanced products the industry would be allot healthier. And this is the main reason that there is 100k + tones of native barley left over since last year as farmers couldn't careless where there product comes from. Barley can happily be fed alone to animals, but no, merchants happier to push a mix with maybe 8 products within.

From my point of view if the animals are doing the required number of cuds and dungs are right, I'm happy. Key is not to push animals bonkers hard with starch levels. High levels of fibre needs is insurance against poor diet construction. Some people love to make things complicated

Silage from that land he puts 30 units a year on presumably, and he will achieve a carcase weight of maybe 250kg..

No I buy in all silage, but try get a decent mineral mix on it pre cutting. I'm not too worried about carcase weight, it's the daily standing charge for animals that's the issue I have. A heifer killing 240 at 17 months in a low cost system, is more preferable to me that one killing 360, at 24 months and a second expensive winter. The shorter the life of an animal the better. Then again I dont push animals as hard as most.

As I said from the beginning, chop straw if only able to make 12e a bale and consider it money in your soil bank, and forget about the messing around trying to please other farmers
 
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Depends what animals. Finishing cattle here and diet is mineralised silage with medium NDF, crimp barley and sprinkle of Oats. If farmers feeding animals used more quality native products instead of importing and been pushed unbalanced products the industry would be allot healthier. And this is the main reason that there is 100k + tones of native barley left over since last year as farmers couldn't careless where there product comes from. Barley can happily be fed alone to animals, but no, merchants happier to push a mix with maybe 8 products within.

From my point of view if the animals are doing the required number of cuds and dungs are right, I'm happy. Key is not to push animals bonkers hard with starch levels. High levels of fibre needs is insurance against poor diet construction. Some people love to make things complicated



No I buy in all silage, but try get a decent mineral mix on it pre cutting. I'm not too worried about carcase weight, it's the daily standing charge for animals that's the issue I have. A heifer killing 240 at 17 months in a low cost system, is more preferable to me that one killing 360, at 24 months and a second expensive winter. The shorter the life of an animal the better. Then again I dont push animals as hard as most.

As I said from the beginning, chop straw if only able to make 12e a bale and consider it money in your soil bank, and forget about the messing around trying to please other farmers

Pardon my ignorance .
What is NDF ,
And how do you go about putting minerals on silage before cutting it , or why would you want to ?
 
Mushroom straw lads around here giving 20 euro a 8x4x4 for wheat straw, I think it's there way of giving the middle finger to grain men for what went on last year.

Easy enough give them the middle finger too, when you see them arriving at the gate to belittle you with their paltry offer turn on the chopper and hopefully the wind will be blowing towards them.
 
Pardon my ignorance .
What is NDF ,
And how do you go about putting minerals on silage before cutting it , or why would you want to ?

NDF is neutral detergent fibre, is basically the cell wall. Really leafy grass, say 28day old silage grass has very low NDF, say 42 day old silage grass would be a medium NDF, and over 60 days would be very high. If you cut really leafy silage you will need straw but if you leave it mature more straw wont be needed but of course digest ability will drop. It's to find the sweet spot between the two that the key.

I apply the minerals to grass to try and give as much nutrition as possible in the one feed. I dont use minerals in the diet as they would be much dearer.

Straw would be a lot cheaper than that
Allot cheaper than high DM silage?
 
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