£45.00 for round bale hay?

I paid £30 for a round bale last year but this year I'm told there is going to be a severe hay shortage with small bales starting at £4.50 round here at the moment.... So £45 could be reasonable with the weather...
 
And delivery isnt cheap these days. £45 delivered in ,round here,(Surrey). Particularly if you are not buying a lot at a time,doesnt sound unreasonable.
 
I pay £15 for the big round bales.
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i wonder if you're bales are the same size as ours? that seems extraordinarily cheap!? We pay £30-35 for a large round bale of hay and that's fairly cheap for the area. Haylege is £25 a large round bale.
 
Kallibear said:
i wonder if you're bales are the same size as ours? that seems extraordinarily cheap!? We pay £30-35 for a large round bale of hay and that's fairly cheap for the area. Haylege is £25 a large round bale.
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It's definitely the big large round bales.
As the local farmer says he isn't greedy & upping prices to make more money.
He has acres upon acres of fields he makes his hay from.

XxX
 
im glad i live in wales now!!! i pay £15 for a large bale of hay and £20 haylage (round bales) and they last me about ten days
 
Currently £15 for big round bale hay, £20 for big round bale hayledge, but I'm expecting it to be more expensive this winter due to the shortage. How much more I haven't been told yet.....but £20 would be the highest I'd expect to pay for the hay.
 
Blimey, what a difference the area makes!

Ive been looking out for 2010 small bales to stock up and the only advert I can find is for £6.30 a bale!!!!
 
Last winter it started at £15, by Christmas was up to £20, by march was up to £35 a bale!

Contacted the farmer this year and he said he is very low this year so will be starting at £40!!

Just stocked up on Haylage at £35 a bale delivered - that will do me!!! Cant be put in a position where they can change the prices as the winter goes on!!!
 
£20 for a big rectangle bale in Northumberland
Farmer only does big round haylage bales so wouldn't know price of those

£40 seems a lot!
 
I pay £20 round bale hay, just switched to haylege (last year's) £25. My supplier has warned me that he will be putting his prices up due to low yield and they haven't been put up for a couple of years. I think that is fair, he is not being greedy. If he put them up to £45 I would tell him to shove it though :eek:
 
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Went to a farm sale the other day last years not very nice bales went for something like £36 each and hes was having 70 :confused:
 
SD i think it is going to get much worse than this down our way!!!
The haylage I buy is being rationed to the supplier, farmers are getting about 1/3rd of the normal amount of the fields. Jolley's are selling small bales for £9 and a big round bale went through Ashford Market for £85 the other day!!!
So in answer to your question at the moment I would grab what you ahve been offered with both hands (thought it was about 20 small bales to 1 large one).
 
We still have some of last year's hay (small bales) and at the weekend someone came all the way from Newbury with a trailer for a load! She said she was struggling to find old hay for her lami sufferer and when she had found some locally, it was £4 a bale and mouldy! Still got some if anyone wants to come and get it.

We have also made half the amount of bales we usually do, but whereas over the last three years the quality hasn't been A1, it is all excellent this year.

So, I would buy what you can as the price is likely to rise later in the year. We usually put ours up by 50p a bale after Christmas.
 
On another tack slightly, do you find you waste hay using big round bales? We would have to store in hay barn and pull off what we want as not allowed to put big bales out in winter.
 
I haven't used round bales for ages but I did find there was more waste and the quality would vary thoughout the bale - the outside was not so nice, then it would get better, then the very middle not so nice again. Also it would take ages to fill a haynet, spend ages stuffing it in and it would look full but when lifted it was still as light as a feather!
 
alicemary said:
On another tack slightly, do you find you waste hay using big round bales? We would have to store in hay barn and pull off what we want as not allowed to put big bales out in winter.
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how do you waste it, surely you just pick the stuff off the floor that drops off .....

as for prices, in some areas there is a severe shortage currently. others its ok at the minute.

however if the weather doesnt break their will be shortages everywhere as everyone barters for it and prices will sky rocket.

there was a piece in horse and hound on it and thats the best news i have heard on it.

around here small bales from this year are 5 pound with price increasing as demand and supply negate each other.

round bales we can currently get for 28 delivered and haylage 27 delivered.

however are normal farmer has not met his quota of hay minimum yet so doesnt expect to cut any haylage at all.

plus crops are shorter and coming to head quicker making poor straw yields so straw is also likely to inflate.

plus farmers will be trying to recoup costs of poor yields all round and rising prices.

dont forget january = vat increase which will again inflate prices.

i think there are some people who are oblivious to all this though hence the making money comments which may be true to a degree but is just a very small part of the picture.
 
marmalade76 said:
I haven't used round bales for ages but I did find there was more waste and the quality would vary thoughout the bale - the outside was not so nice, then it would get better, then the very middle not so nice again. Also it would take ages to fill a haynet, spend ages stuffing it in and it would look full but when lifted it was still as light as a feather!
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that would be an exception and crapply baled and stored hay tbh.

if done properly its no different to square bales large or small.

as a side note round bales weigh in the region of 250kg normally and small bales are about 15 - 20 kg.
 
thats quite alot i estimate that last years hay will be going for about £3 a small bale as this years first cut is £3.50 according to h&h and if the weather is gonna stay like this (drought) it will go up, even double!.
For the fact, ina round bale there are between 8 and 10 small bales.

But maybe look around quick to compare if not take it.
 
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