There was strong demand for both hay and straw at Carter Jonas' 59th annual January sale, held at the Newbury Rugby Club on Thursday, 21 January.

Approximately 1,800 tonnes of hay and straw were on offer, from farms throughout southern England. The saleroom was packed with buyers from the south-west, Wales, and home counties leading to an almost total clearance of the 100 lots on offer, totalling in excess of £100,000. Simon Pallett was the auctioneer.

The recent spell of cold weather noticeably increased demand since the December sale, particularly for barley straw and hay. It was noticeable, however, that conventional small bales of straw are in less demand. This is due to the additional labour requirement in loading and transportation and the acceptance by most stables of larger bales. We would suggest that the days of the small baler are numbered, except for home use.

John Liddiard of East Shefford near Hungerford topped the straw trade with his bright Claas 2200 bales of barley straw making £80 per tonne (£24.25 per bale). Barley straw ranged from £50 to £80 per tonne to average at £66 overall. Small bales ranged from £1.17 to £1.75 per bale.

Rob Snook of Urchfont near Devizes topped the wheat straw trade achieving £65 per tonne for his BB940 bales (£18.33 per bale). Wheat straw ranged from £46 to £65 to average £56 overall.

Puckshipton Farms of Marden near Devizes made £54 per tonne (£15.63 per able) for their Oat Straw in D1010 bales.

Alan Hutton of Mapledurwell near Basingstoke topped the hay trade with his D4000 bales Ryegrass/Clover Mixture Hay making £122 per tonne (£27.50 per bale). Hay ranged from £79 to £122 per tonne in big bales to average £87. Small bales made to £3.25 apiece.

The next sale is on 11 March 2010 for which entries are invited.