3rd cut of haylege this year being made this week!!!?

setterlover

setterlover

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We are making our 3rd cut of haylege this week 1st cut middle of May 2nd cut 10th July now long enough for a third cut.
Each cut has made 35 large round bales and this cut looks about the same so over 100 large round bales cut this year !!
Maybe we are just unusual but there is still plenty of grass on the one field we are grazing .All the farms around us are in the same position so I will be surprised if there is a shortage of hay/ haylege this year ( at least not in West Wales!)
 
Some farms here are silaging for the third time and friends field will have second lot of small bale hay baled tonight or tomorrow all being well.
 
I can't pretend I'm not hugely envious as we don't have a blade of grass on the place, including our winter fields that have been rested for over 3 months. For others in the same sort of position I think all we can do is hope that there's enough of a surplus in the areas like yours who've had good growth to supply those that had hardly any. I know some local yards have already started buying hay from Wales to try and get some hay for winter. It does unfortunately make the hay expensive by the time you've added haulage to the initial cost.
 
I have a field that was cut second week in June, it grew a bit with the bit of rain we had, and the farmer who cut it says he will try and make silage of it, when I think is it worth it, but they are short of keep for cattle.
 
suestowford said:
There is plenty here in Devon too.
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That's really good news for me! My local tack shop buys from Devon, which is just as well, locally in Berkshire just about everything is brown and parched. The guy I used to buy from is predicting a really bad struggle to buy locally produced forage this winter. Some got made early in the season, but there's been nothing since ☹️
 
Two friends of mine, drove down in two large horse boxes and loaded up with small bale hay from west wales. We are north wales and only got one cut so far. No real rain in 10 weeks here. They took 4 muscle men to load up. Bribed them with all can eat at transport cafes there and back
 
I’m glad some areas are making haylage.
My farmer supplier won’t have any homemade to sell this year, he will barely have enough for his own animals!

But I’m very thankful that one of his friends further north has offered up his surplus so he can supply his regular customers. I’ve been able to secure 50 bales, should see me through to end of next spring. Extra £10/bale for the equivalent of last year for the transport and storage, but needs must!
 
You're very fortunate. My sheep are grazing bare earth and have been for months. My husband cut hay in June but the yield was down by about 300 small bales and there certainly hasn't been anywhere near enough regrowth to consider a second cut.
 
Yield was noticeably down here in Surrey. My field is starting to resemble a sandschool as it's so dry, the soil structure is becoming beach-like. It's got to the point when I dread rain, as the earth will just wash away as I'm on a hill. YO got one cut of hay (done in July), hiked price up by 33 %. I did peer through the doors at the new hay earlier today and the barn is less than half full.
 
For the first time in 12 years we won’t have home made hay from the farm this winter. There probably won’t be enough for the cattle let alone us but I always buy in meadow hay during the summer from a very reliable supplier so while it will be more expensive I know it will be good quality.
 
Home counties. No hay/haylage cut at all and no grass. I have 5 horses on 17 acres and they will be needing hay very soon. Less than 100mm rain in over 3 months. Will be buying hay from West Wales and Scotland!!
 
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Our supplier has said he's got a limited number of large bales, price increase from £40 to £63 per bale. No grass in the field so getting through a big bale every 10 days for 2 horses, don't know where we go or how much we will end up paying when that runs out and not much storage so can't even stock up to feel secure that we've got enough 😔
 
Archangel said:
Another in West Wales here (near Brechfa) - it's been a bumper year for hay/haylage/silage.
The lanes hereabouts are almost only wide enough to get a bike through as the vegetation has gone so wild.

If you have a lorry it would be worth a trip to Wales.
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Agreed never seen so much grass and vegetation here in West Wales To be honest it's been a fab spring and summer plenty of warm even hot weather but the odd day of rain or heavy showers has really boosted the grass.
 
Bucks and it's dire here. My hay supplier won't do a 2nd cut because they need the hay fields for sheep & cattle because they're desperately short.

I fill my barn mid summer but it needs replenishing Dec / Jan so no idea what the price will be by then
 
setterlover said:
We are making our 3rd cut of haylege this week 1st cut middle of May 2nd cut 10th July now long enough for a third cut.
Each cut has made 35 large round bales and this cut looks about the same so over 100 large round bales cut this year !!
Maybe we are just unusual but there is still plenty of grass on the one field we are grazing .All the farms around us are in the same position so I will be surprised if there is a shortage of hay/ haylege this year ( at least not in West Wales!)
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We saw someone doing a second or third cut the other day so that can only be good news.

Although I was kind of hoping if we had a hay shortage that it might bring down the price of horses for sale this winter. It's a sad fact that some people might have to sell.
 
SEL said:
Bucks and it's dire here. My hay supplier won't do a 2nd cut because they need the hay fields for sheep & cattle because they're desperately short.

I fill my barn mid summer but it needs replenishing Dec / Jan so no idea what the price will be by then
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Same, it’s desperate here. I’m having to take my Arab out on the bridlepath nearby to graze because she just isn’t interested in the hay we do have, and our fields are just dust. It’s a real relief to hear that some parts of the UK are getting decent yields.
 
Wow. That’s incredible. Hopefully those areas having a good harvest will be able to prop up the rest of the industry even if just a little bit.

No chance of us getting a second cut, we barely made enough in June and nothing has grown since. Our neighbours are dairy and they are having to supplement feed their herds, along with putting haylage out in the fields. They massively under stock their land, and have thousands of acres to rotate, yet still find themselves with not enough grass. They are usually on their 3 - 4 clamp silage harvest by now but so far have only managed one this year.
 
Second cut of silage well done here and third about ready. There's only ever one cut of hay/haylage and that was a bumper yield. It was a little later than preferred, as was the second silage cut, because of waiting for a dry weather window. Our grass is ridiculous this year, shetland goes into his mini paddock for spring but usually back in with cob from mid July, he's still in mini paddock as too much grass growth. I had my riding area topped 17th June and it was done again 3rd August and you could have got a great silage, almost hay, crop off it. I'd been unable to ride in it for a couple of weeks as too long! So hopefully there'll be good surplus to make up from the areas with poor yields.

We've had a lot of sun but also a lot of rain. Nettles and brambles are also having a bumper year.
 
Archangel said:
Another in West Wales here (near Brechfa) - it's been a bumper year for hay/haylage/silage.
The lanes hereabouts are almost only wide enough to get a bike through as the vegetation has gone so wild.

If you have a lorry it would be worth a trip to Wales.
Click to expand...
Same here. Third cuts happening now, and hedgerows are mad.
 
West Wales too. Have done old meadow grass hay, plenty of different species of grass and lots of herbage, as everyone else around here is doing haulage and my fatties don't need it! Did and early cut off some fields, currently getting the later cut done this weekend. It's drying out really well really quickly! The early cut fields have already come back good, so the winter grazing for the cattle is looking decent. Silage coming out of our ears too if anyone needs that! Lucky really, because it's been so dry, the borehole on the farm has actually dried up for the first time in an older family member's living memory, so we've had to move all stock off the far fields as there's nothing to pump up to the troughs
 
South Yorks - I've got 3 smallish horses on just over 5 acres and am just about to start supplementing it with haylage before they dig the field up. What's left of the grass is crispy when you walk on it. My other field is 10 acres for 2 horses and 2 small ponies, and there's still quite a bit to eat, but they seem to prefer the nettles to the standing hay. My supplier says he's got enough - just - for regular customers, and he's only put it up £5 a bale, so £50 for large haylage and large hay.
 
Essex is a desert I have been feeding hay all year,my suppliers have had half the normal harvest but hopefully as a regular client I have reserved a supply but at increased cost.
 
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