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Driving Prices Up
- Export demand for high-grade oaten hay remains steady, with offers between $305–$330/t delivered to Victorian plants.
- Domestic demand is rising for wheat and barley hay, especially in southern regions where dry finishes have lifted bale quality.
- Rain in southwest Victoria and Gippsland has improved paddock feed and boosted on-farm reserves, helping to stabilise short-term supply expectations.
- Harvest delays are tightening the supply in the short term, as many growers and contractors work through wet paddocks and catch up on workloads.
- Straw in Central SA and Rhodes grass in the Atherton Tablelands are trading at elevated, variable prices, driven by producer-level insights as growers work to rebuild shed stocks.
Driving Prices Down
- Lucerne pricing remains stagnant for a fourth consecutive week across most regions, with volumes low and competition flat across much of the southeast.
- Straw prices continue to hover near the bottom of the market, with little incentive to move as growers confirm current rates are unlikely to drop further.
- Vetch pricing has eased slightly, although early sales continue to clear at reasonable returns, particularly when quality is high.
- Ongoing wet weather and limited buyer urgency are slowing trade in some regions, as end-users wait for broader supply availability before locking in purchases.
Also in the news
- Australian livestock producers have been facing unprecedented market volatility over recent years, with swings in cattle and sheep prices reaching record levels, Rabobank says in new research. Read more here.
- Australia is forecast to harvest a larger winter grain crop this year, with Rabobank estimating total volumes to reach 62.8 million tonnes in its just-released annual 2025/26 Australian Winter Crop Forecast. Read more here.
- North west Victoria hosted some of the nation’s leading agricultural researchers last week when 17 senior CSIRO scientists visited Birchip for a three-day think tank with the Birchip Cropping Group (BCG) focused on driving the next wave of innovation in broadacre farming. Read more here.
- Australia’s horticulture industry is set to benefit from a major innovation in weed management. Delivered by Applied Horticultural Research, Nufarm, and La Trobe University, and funded by Hort Innovation, the project aims to transform how growers tackle weed challenges through smarter, more sustainable solutions enabled by AI, robotics, non-chemical options, and autonomous vehicles. Read more here.
- The new BOM site has been launched to scrutiny, removing weather radars, district forecasts, and changing the user experience, causing frustration for farmers and rural businesses reliant on weather information.
- Heavy rain has helped Australia’s cattle market and restored confidence after drops across all cattle indicators over the past few weeks.
- Victoria’s harvest is underway, with 3500 tonnes of grain delivered in the opening weeks. Harvest activity in Queensland is progressing at a rapid pace, with southern regions now in full swing.
- Australia is set to harvest a 62.8 million tonne winter crop this year, up 6.4 per cent on last year and 6.1 per cent above the five-year average.
- Digital Agricultural Services has confirmed larger-than-usual areas of cereal crops were being cut for hay in South Australia and Victoria. In Victoria, 3.3 per cent of the barley crop has been cut for hay, up from 2.9 per cent last year. In South Australia, 30,000 hectares (3.6 per cent) of barley and 39,000 hectares (1.9 per cent) of wheat have been cut. Read more: here
- Farmers are preparing to store more grain on-farm this harvest due to flat commodity prices, but canola will be sold to provide cash flow. Read more: here
- Lentil prices have lifted slightly after a prolonged slide, but are still almost 35% under last year’s price. Read more: here
- An influx of Tasmanian dairy farms has hit the market this spring, with increased focus on succession planning reflecting industry optimism as vendors seek to capitalise on favourable returns. Read more: here
- Bayer’s exit from New Zealand research is ringing warning bells in the local farm input sector, amid concerns about Australia’s competitiveness. Read more here: here
- To prevent haystack fires, monitor the temperature of bales across different parts of the stack. We remind everyone to stay extra alert when moving hay to sheds, given the rain, which is prompting people to bale hay before it dries.