Anyone else been caught out by 'fictional' hay price rises?

Lisamd
Well maybe you should have been a bit more careful about how it was worded. Obviously there are a lot more farmers on here than you thought & you have obviously upset them, even if you didnt mean to.
For once we have been able to defend our corner & not beaten down & expected to just take what we are given.

At the end of the day you must have known that you were on a touchy subject as the other thread about the hay price had a similar response.

If you are going to keep horses (or any animal), you are going to have to shop around for the best deal & pay the best price. We have to do that all the time, its almost second nature to most farmers.
 
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gummybear1 said:
Lisamd
Well maybe you should have been a bit more careful about how it was worded. Obviously there are a lot more farmers on here than you thought & you have obviously upset them, even if you didnt mean to.
For once we have been able to defend our corner & not beaten down & expected to just take what we are given.

At the end of the day you must have known that you were on a touchy subject as the other thread about the hay price had a similar response.

If you are going to keep horses (or any animal), you are going to have to shop around for the best deal & pay the best price. We have to do that all the time, its almost second nature to most farmers.
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Thanks. I don't often venture into new lounge so wasn't aware of the other thread. Didn't mean to offend anyone and will be very, very careful about what questions i ask in future :)
 
Not wishing to insult the farmers on here... I am on Team Agriculture...

But...

I have been taught that smaller bales and price hikes are ways to get money out of horsey folk. Oh, and telling everyone it's meadow hay. That works too, apparently.

I am certainly shopping around for my hay this year. I know it should have gone up, but why so much faster than straw, silage, wheat and all the other crops...
... because it's making money off the horsey elite.

TBH though, Farmer's have made losses for so many years. It's about time something made a profit.
 
Harper_Gal said:
Not wishing to insult the farmers on here... I am on Team Agriculture...

But...

I have been taught that smaller bales and price hikes are ways to get money out of horsey folk. Oh, and telling everyone it's meadow hay. That works too, apparently.

I am certainly shopping around for my hay this year. I know it should have gone up, but why so much faster than straw, silage, wheat and all the other crops...
... because it's making money off the horsey elite.

TBH though, Farmer's have made losses for so many years. It's about time something made a profit.
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Smaller bales cost more to make and meadow hay should work out cheaper than seed hay as it is a standing crop. Smaller bales are made for 'equestrian use' as they are easier to handle, larger bales are used on farms for livestock.

When it comes to haylage and silage the grass does not need drying out for the same length of time which is why hay is more time consuming.

I agree that prices have been standing for a long time and it is time for a pay review... it is just how the farmer calculates this. For us our hay went from £3 to £5 this year, that is an increase of 67%. The hay is high quality and delivered onto the yard as and when required and the bale is a good size and weight, we are tied into buying of the farmer on our yard but I have not seen anyone moving yet...
 
itsmylife said:
Someone who posted that they are paying 2.50 a bale for hay but thinks its ok for prices to go up!
this was on another thread but just stuck in my mind as being hypocritical. like the op I started a thread a while ago about hay prices and was told off in no uncertain terms for having an opinion!
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That someone you are talking about would be me, £2.50 is what I paid my supplier (from next door), because it is how much he asked for, seeing as it was me and my OH who actually helped to bale, gather, load and unload the whole of his hay crop. We are livestock farmers, so summer is easier for us, therefore help out our arable farmers friends.
The truth is, if he said £5 per bale, we would have paid it the same, without moaning. I actually believe that he should charge more.
It's all academic now anyway, as all the hay is gone and we will be buying in more, wherever we can find it and at whatever price - it is our choice (and our livelihood) to keep animals, therefore we are prepared to pay for their feed.
 
Another thought for the day...
At Christmas toy and electronic companies sell there latest gadgets for £££s... then over the following year you see the prices drop. It still costs them the same to make the product but once the demand has gone they drop the prices to keep selling the stock.
 
I'm with the farmers on this one. I have my horses on an arable farm, and the farmer produces hay and straw for our livery horses, he does not sell any, so isn't putting increase prices on anything, it is included in our livery price - which has remained the same.

What everybody fails to see is the stress it has put on the farmers. Our farmer tries to get two cuts of hay, this year he only managed to get one, and at that, there was one point where he thought he wouldn't get that. If the weather turns, the whole crop can be ruined. It is EXTREMELY stressful, all the hard work, and all the hours they put into it, could be destroyed with a bout of bad weather. They do not get a guaranteed salary at the end of the month like the average person that goes out to work. Farmers depend on good crops to see them through the next year.

This year we have only got 50% amount of hay to what we usually get, which will not last us the winter. This is not a fictional tale the farmer has come up with to justify increase in prices, as he has not done this at our yard. He is making NO profitable gain whatsoever. When our hay runs out, we will have to purchase our own from other sources, and we will be hit with the hay prices.

In all honesty, I have never understood why hay was so cheap in the first place. I have been with the farmer in his tractor on many occasion, at various stages of the process of hay/straw, and was reaaly shocked at the amount of work that goes into getting a good crop, nevermind with the stress it causes. In my mind, for the work they do, and for what the cost must be, together with their time - I can not work out how it is profitable to farmers at all!

Another point, our farmer uses fertiliser, and I know that has tripled in price since the previous year before - and believe me, it wasn't the cheapest before the price increase! All of these things add up.

So please bear in mind, that these price increases are not just effecting people buying hay, it is because the farmers have been stung in the process also. :( xx
 
martlin said:
That someone you are talking about would be me, £2.50 is what I paid my supplier (from next door), because it is how much he asked for, seeing as it was me and my OH who actually helped to bale, gather, load and unload the whole of his hay crop. We are livestock farmers, so summer is easier for us, therefore help out our arable farmers friends.
The truth is, if he said £5 per bale, we would have paid it the same, without moaning. I actually believe that he should charge more.
It's all academic now anyway, as all the hay is gone and we will be buying in more, wherever we can find it and at whatever price - it is our choice (and our livelihood) to keep animals, therefore we are prepared to pay for their feed.
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Martlin, I couldn't agree more with you! I pay £3 a small bale and £18 for a large round one - a huge amount less than some on here. I will pay more when I am asked as I appreciate the farmer's current generosity and loyalty, so I will not quibble over it as he has supplied us with hay for the last 8 years.

Like you say; we keep them, we have to pay for them and with that keep the farmers in business! We shouldn't be suprised by the rise in feed - horsey people, poor and rich a-like, are easy targets due to the age-old stereotype of "oh you have horses, you must be rich". The market also knows we won't watch our horse starve or suffer so we'll always pay the asking price to keep our pride and joy happy and comfortable.

It's obviously been a very prompting post as it is such a hot topic, but at the end of the day we all have and are more than entitled to our own opinions and are entitled to use this forum to express them, whatever they may be.

That's my opinion anyway :D
 
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