The last straw!

The price had more than doubled in the past year from 4-10s per ton to more than 10 per ton due to a shortage of barley straw, with some being imported from the Republic of Ireland to help ease the situation in border counties.

A low yield of straw from the previous year’s crop was the main reason for the problem, and the shortage led to concerns that farmers would be unable to obtain enough straw to bed their cattle until they went out to grass.

One local farmer commented that the yield of straw from the previous year was only half that of a typical year.

“I have been rationing it right from the beginning of the season and using some sawdust too,” he said. “Whether or not I run into trouble depends on how quickly I can get the cows out.

“If it’s a bad spring then I don’t know just how expensive barley straw will be or where it’s going to come from.”