STANDING straw sales in Herefordshire reached record prices this year.

Auctions have been going on across the county and, in some cases, wheat straw has fetched more than £100 an acre.

Over in the west, auctioneers J Straker, Chadwick and Sons managed to reach £127 an acre on two occasions, one a field of winter wheat, the other barley.

They sold a total of 1,550 acres in a collective sale, with wheat, barley and oats combined averaging £93 an acre.

Even oil seed rape straw and bean haulm, usually hard to sell, made up to £58 and £43 an acre.

Auctioneer Lyndon Trumper believes it is the dearest trade ever seen and puts it down to empty barns after a hard winter and drought-hit crops this year.

In the Hay-on-Wye area Brightwells have held three sales, hitting £100 for wheat straw, with the general price being £85 to £95 an acre. Winter oats averaged £93, Spring wheat £80 and oil seed rape straw £45.

Sunderlands and Thompsons have been auctioning 5,000 acres and agree that standing wheat straw has hit the tops, in some cases making more than £100 an acre. Some fields were making between £50 and £60 with an average price for wheat over £80 an acre.

Auctioneer David Thompson said generally prices would be up between 20 per cent and 30 per cent on last year and even rape straw was in good demand.

He also believed the surge was due to several factors, including empty barns and the dry weather. But the variation in prices across the county was due to various factors, including the location and easy access to fields and the quality of the straw.

Buyers had to assess the crops and judge how many bales they expected to get, per acre, he said.

No-one knows the end result because the weather could change to wet before harvesting but this year it is definitely a sellers’ market.