"The Christmas break saw a surprise cross commodity rally which, for those farmers who were in the market, presented a great selling opportunity. Rumours of winterkill in Eastern Europe, which we believe to be unfounded, and a considerably weaker pound/euro saw prices spike in a very thin trade," said David Sheppard, managing director, Gleadell Agriculture.
"The new year period has brought renewed interest in farm selling, and strength in European and US markets have supported our domestic prices somewhat but the rally has lost £5 as we go to press.
"After dropping as low as £1 = €1.02 sterling has now recovered to €1.11 and, with this strength in currency and a 30c fall in US wheat, we could well see prices start to slide again as the realisation of the large exportable surplus continues to weigh on the market.
"BOE have cut interest rates by 0.5% which has boosted Sterling versus all other currencies as many expected a 1% cut," Mr Sheppard added.