diff --git a/cogl-debug.h b/cogl-debug.h
index 1785114b1..c8c1f566e 100644
--- a/cogl-debug.h
+++ b/cogl-debug.h
@@ -41,8 +41,9 @@ typedef enum {
   COGL_DEBUG_BLEND_STRINGS    = 1 << 9,
   COGL_DEBUG_DISABLE_BATCHING = 1 << 10,
   COGL_DEBUG_FORCE_CLIENT_SIDE_MATRICES = 1 << 11,
-  COGL_DEBUG_DISABLE_VBOS = 1 << 12,
-  COGL_DEBUG_JOURNAL = 1 << 13
+  COGL_DEBUG_DISABLE_VBOS     = 1 << 12,
+  COGL_DEBUG_JOURNAL          = 1 << 13,
+  COGL_DEBUG_BATCHING         = 1 << 14
 } CoglDebugFlags;
 
 #ifdef COGL_ENABLE_DEBUG
diff --git a/common/cogl-debug.c b/common/cogl-debug.c
index 82d5864a8..e093a344c 100644
--- a/common/cogl-debug.c
+++ b/common/cogl-debug.c
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ static const GDebugKey cogl_debug_keys[] = {
   { "disable-batching", COGL_DEBUG_DISABLE_BATCHING },
   { "client-side-matrices", COGL_DEBUG_FORCE_CLIENT_SIDE_MATRICES },
   { "disable-vbos", COGL_DEBUG_DISABLE_VBOS },
-  { "journal", COGL_DEBUG_JOURNAL }
+  { "journal", COGL_DEBUG_JOURNAL },
+  { "batching", COGL_DEBUG_BATCHING }
 };
 
 static const gint n_cogl_debug_keys = G_N_ELEMENTS (cogl_debug_keys);
diff --git a/common/cogl-primitives.c b/common/cogl-primitives.c
index ed3561672..3b9f7f5d4 100644
--- a/common/cogl-primitives.c
+++ b/common/cogl-primitives.c
@@ -178,6 +178,9 @@ _cogl_journal_flush_modelview_and_entries (CoglJournalEntry *batch_start,
 {
   CoglJournalFlushState *state = data;
 
+  if (cogl_debug_flags & COGL_DEBUG_BATCHING)
+    g_print ("BATCHING:    modelview batch len = %d\n", batch_len);
+
   GE (glLoadMatrixf ((GLfloat *)&batch_start->model_view));
 
 #ifdef HAVE_COGL_GL
@@ -263,10 +266,8 @@ _cogl_journal_flush_material_and_entries (CoglJournalEntry *batch_start,
 
   _COGL_GET_CONTEXT (ctx, NO_RETVAL);
 
-#if 0
-  if (batch_len != 1)
-    g_debug ("batch len = %d", batch_len);
-#endif
+  if (cogl_debug_flags & COGL_DEBUG_BATCHING)
+    g_print ("BATCHING:   material batch len = %d\n", batch_len);
 
   _cogl_material_flush_gl_state (batch_start->material,
                                  &batch_start->flush_options);
@@ -382,6 +383,9 @@ _cogl_journal_flush_vbo_offsets_and_entries (CoglJournalEntry *batch_start,
 
   _COGL_GET_CONTEXT (ctx, NO_RETVAL);
 
+  if (cogl_debug_flags & COGL_DEBUG_BATCHING)
+    g_print ("BATCHING:  vbo offset batch len = %d\n", batch_len);
+
   /* XXX NB:
    * Our journal's vertex data is arranged as follows:
    * 4 vertices per quad:
@@ -418,7 +422,7 @@ _cogl_journal_flush_vbo_offsets_and_entries (CoglJournalEntry *batch_start,
   /* We only call gl{Vertex,Color,Texture}Pointer when the stride within
    * the VBO changes. (due to a change in the number of material layers)
    * While the stride remains constant we walk forward through the above
-   * VBO use a vertex offset passed to glDraw{Arrays,Elements} */
+   * VBO using a vertex offset passed to glDraw{Arrays,Elements} */
   state->vertex_offset = 0;
 
   if (cogl_debug_flags & COGL_DEBUG_JOURNAL)
@@ -522,6 +526,9 @@ _cogl_journal_flush (void)
   if (ctx->journal->len == 0)
     return;
 
+  if (cogl_debug_flags & COGL_DEBUG_BATCHING && ctx->journal->len != 1)
+    g_print ("BATCHING: journal len = %d\n", ctx->journal->len);
+
   /* Load all the vertex data we have accumulated so far into a single VBO
    * to minimize memory management costs within the GL driver. */
   if (!vbo_fallback)