How straw values are reshaping barley returns

Rising straw values are prompting cereal growers to look beyond grain yield when calculating crop margins, with variety choice and straw output increasingly important to overall returns.

Wheat straw was trading at £66 per 500kg square bale at the start of the year. More recent figures put big square barley straw at £86 ex-farm on average, with big square wheat straw ranging from £70 to £92 ex-farm depending on region.

Demand from livestock, bedding and biomass markets has coincided with tighter supplies – encouraging growers to consider the value of the entire crop when choosing cereal varieties and planning arable rotations.

“Profitable and sustainable farming is increasingly about making every hectare work harder,” says Heather Oldfield of plant breeders Limagrain. “When straw values are contributing a substantial proportion of a crop’s income, growers need information that looks beyond grain yield tables.”

Straw is an important income stream alongside sugar beet, potatoes, winter barley and spring barley for George Thompson at Grasby House Farm, near Barnetby, in Lincolnshire.

The farm grows barley for seed, but the straw is sold to Cherry Valley at Walesby and Buslingthorpe for duck housing. Now with Chinese owners, Cherry Valley pays well but demands consistent quality.

That means straw is an important consideration when deciding which barley variety to, says Mr Thompson. “Quality has to be consistent, so variety choice matters as much for straw length and brightness as it does for grain performance and yield.”

The farm produced about 15 bales/ha this year, within its normal range of 12 to 20 bales. That generated about £247/ha of additional income alongside the seed crop.

Mr Thompson also carries out his own variety trials. This year he compared two similar four-hectare fields. One was drilled with a six-row hybrid barley and the other with Limagrain’s LG Caravelle winter barley.

“Caravelle produced significantly more straw than the hybrid, and the quality gap was just as noticeable – the hybrid’s straw simply didn’t match what came off the Caravelle. So we are justified in our decision to grow the variety for our straw business.”

Agronomy remains flexible. Winter barley drilling can extend well into October if preceding potato crops are harvested late.

Cultivations vary according to conditions. The farm uses either a plough and press or a one-pass stubble cultivation with a DTX. Nutrition is determined by soil testing.

Storage costs

Producing valuable straw also brings extra work and expense. Bales must be stored on pallets and protected from rodents. Growing concern about bird flu means straw is now sheeted and covered during transport before delivery to Cherry Valley.

“Straw is my all-year-round bread and butter,” says Mr Thompson. “But that does mean it has to be stored well but the extra value to the crop from the straw is well worth the effort.”

Other growers take a broader view of its contribution. At Dennington Estates in Suffolk, manager Ryan MacCormack assesses straw alongside grain, environmental payments and the wider rotation rather than treating it as a by-product.

“It is all about the full output off each hectare — every part of the crop has a value,” he says. “This may well be through the SFI contribution, the whole grain, and also the straw value, be that chopped or baled.”

Variety decisions therefore reflect grain quantity and quality, straw characteristics and total output from each hectare.

Margin equation

With straw worth about £42/t in the row in mid-August, Mr MacCormack says its potential income must be balanced against the cost of securing it. “The greatest value for us comes from the grain, and then we would look at the straw — but it’s all part of the financial equation.”

That calculation starts before harvest. “I look at where in the rotation the crop fits, what it’s following, how it’s going to be cultivated, and whether it’s going to be chopped or baled- all of which have associated costs.”

Removing straw can avoid some of the problems associated with chopping it. Incorporated material can increase cultivation requirements for the following crop and raise slug pressure.

But baling is not automatically the best option either. Leaving straw in the row for sale can reduce additional combine and handling costs.

For growers, the calculation is therefore moving beyond tonnes of grain per hectare. Grain remains the primary output, but higher straw values mean the secondary crop can make a material contribution to the margin.