Bale prices have rocketed by 19.96% year-on-year as the shortage of animal feed such as silage intensifies following the extreme weather conditions Ireland has experienced, according to DoneDeal.ie.

This follows the latest research from Ireland’s largest farming advertising website, which analysed over 5,000 adverts for bales placed on the site in June and July this year and compared those to the same period in 2017.

Silage has seen the most dramatic rise, with prices increasing by 31% from €20.24 a bale 12 months ago to €29.22 a bale now. Meanwhile, hay is up 18% to €27.23 in the same period.

Regionally, the most dramatic price rises were seen in Leinster, where bale prices (silage and hay) have increased by 26% compared to the same period in 2017.

The price of straw has also sky-rocketed from an average of €16.35 a bale in June and July of 2017 to €24.02 now, an increase of 32% in 12 months.

Regional breakdown of average silage and hay bale prices between the June-July period for 2017, compared to the same time frame in 2018, is outlined below:

Commenting on the situation, Adam Ferguson from DoneDeal.ie said: “This is a crisis for farmers. The snow in spring followed by the extreme drought has made the production of hay, straw and silage extremely difficult and we’re seeing this now in these surging prices.

“At the moment we’re witnessing Spanish companies, which have identified the crisis, advertising alfalfa and English straw on DoneDeal to Irish farmers.

Encouraging trade in Ireland with the stock that we currently have in the country will help alleviate the problem and we’ve decided to support this by making it free for farmers to advertise feed and bedding on DoneDeal for the month of August.