Anyone else concerned about hay for next winter?

[PaulineW]

One local hay producer has just announced he is cutting back, due to cost of everything from fuel to fertiliser. My provider has finished selling all of his hay, with none available until next harvest now. He also said prices will need to go up.

I’m worried about affordability and availability in the area. I have one laminitis case so will need to source hay through the summer, plus try and build up a winter hay fund, in case prices are sky high. Heaven help us if the crop is poor this summer.

 

[Jenko109]

Absolutely not. Spring is only just here. I point blank refuse to even acknowledge that winter exists.

 

[southerncomfort]

I'm very worried about the cost.

We usually pay £3.50 a bale and we've been warned that some suppliers are talking about £7.50 a bale.

Our own supplier says he will need to increase costs. My best guess would be £4.50 to £5.00 per bale.

 

[milliepops]

I don't think he will be the only person making that decision.
Due to the sudden increase in the price of wrap and red diesel OH is likely to make a lot less, probably won't bother making any to sell. I will be getting more small bales as they will be cheaper than the equivalent rounds to make and i have undercover storage at the yard (yay! i love small bales )

 

[TPO]

Yup ? At the last delivery the lovely farmers said that prices will definitely need to go up and they too were considering cutting back their hay production because the means doesn't justify the ends with the costs of everything rising so substantially.

 

[bouncing_ball]

I don't think he will be the only person making that decision.
Due to the sudden increase in the price of wrap and red diesel OH is likely to make a lot less, probably won't bother making any to sell. I will be getting more small bales as they will be cheaper than the equivalent rounds to make and i have undercover storage at the yard (yay! i love small bales )

I'd always assumed big square bales and round bales were cheaper to make per total kg than small bales? Is that not the case? Or is there something different about round bales?

 

[milliepops]

I'd always assumed big square bales and round bales were cheaper to make per total kg than small bales? Is that not the case? Or is there something different about round bales?

it's down to the cost of the wrap. we calculated it will cost about £7 minimum to wrap a bale this year. whereas the equivalent weight of hay with just baler twine will be cheaper. bearing in mind OH has all the kit, multiple balers and makes all my hay so the labour will be the same, broadly.

 

[milliepops]

eta handling cost is greater for small bales usually, but with a sledge and flat 8 grab to minimise actual need to pick bales up that is reduced as much as poss, plus for me they will go straight to the barn from the field.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I am certainly going to be managing my grazing a bit differently over the summer to make sure I have plenty over the winter.

 

[bouncing_ball]

it's down to the cost of the wrap. we calculated it will cost about £7 minimum to wrap a bale this year. whereas the equivalent weight of hay with just baler twine will be cheaper. bearing in mind OH has all the kit, multiple balers and makes all my hay so the labour will be the same, broadly.

Do you mean big round bales wrapped in plastic versus the round bales wrapped in the white mesh?

 

[bouncing_ball]

I don't think he will be the only person making that decision.
Due to the sudden increase in the price of wrap and red diesel OH is likely to make a lot less, probably won't bother making any to sell. I will be getting more small bales as they will be cheaper than the equivalent rounds to make and i have undercover storage at the yard (yay! i love small bales )

Given the laws of supply and demand, if he made it all, and priced it at the profit margin he needs to bother to do it, would it not still sell by the end of winter?

 

[tristar]

the cost of fertilizer has doubled, all other costs have risen

best keep tracks and prepare well in advance, a very dry or wet summer would make a difference to crop quantity and quality

i think this is one year when planning ahead is important for next winter

 

[milliepops]

Do you mean big round bales wrapped in plastic versus the round bales wrapped in the white mesh?

yeah my rounds have to be stored outside so they are all wrapped in plastic. up to now i haven't had undercover storage of any meaningful size at livery so i've had a couple of rounds delivered at a time and the small number of small bales he can store each year go to FILs sheep or sold in small numbers to locals throughout the winter

Given the laws of supply and demand, if he made it all, and priced it at the profit margin he needs to bother to do it, would it not still sell by the end of winter?

quite possibly but you're still having to shell out for the consumables upfront and unless there's a substantial pre-order then you are out of pocket for a fair while. it's a sideline so possibly not worth the hassle, last year i think there were 60 big rounds surplus so it's not like you can live on the income

 

[tda]

I'd always assumed big square bales and round bales were cheaper to make per total kg than small bales? Is that not the case? Or is there something different about round bales?

They are but for hay you then have to have a spare barn or two to store it in ? or wrap it at great cost to store outside

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Having only used about 45% of my winter hay as I haven't hayed in the daytime at all, I have enough to get through most of next winter.....
Farmer friend cut back 2 yrs ago and only makes enough small bale to order for 5 of us - and deliver off the field as soon as its baled. As long as his Mrs demands small bales for the calves, I'm ok.
Also, it's off old meadows and has never had fertiliser on, but often its cut late in recent years due to dodgy spring growing weather.

 

[Horseysheepy]

We normally make some silage off the headlands for the ewes in lamb, and either quadrants or rounds in seed Timothy or meadow hay for horses and sheep once lambed. Then sell the excess to local horse/farmers or in the local market's fodder sale.

OH has said no silage this year due to increase in price of wrap, which is a pain because it can be stored outside. So we can only make hay for our stock due to shed space. OH has mentioned some small bales which would be great if we could!!.

So I think some farmers will be only making for their stock only, and not make extra for the local horse market, so it will put prices up possibly.

 

[OldNag]

I think we'll get to a point where it's going to be near to impossible to keep horses cheaply at all. Even if you do everything on a shoestring, the absolute basics will cost so much more.

 

[honetpot]

I have hay left over, I usually by from the farmers son next door, and it permanent hay field, it too wet for anything else, so unless the price is ridicules I will buy straight off the field again and stack it, they are rounds.
I bought Mudcontrol mats for last winter, so I have saved on bedding, saved on the cost of muck removal, and have some straw left, and I have spent £800 on fertiliser, so I hope we will be OK. Our grass is always slow growing because of the wind, but crossed fingers it will come good.

 

[rabatsa]

Next door quoted someone £60/bale for round bale hay a couple of weeks ago, when they asked him for some hay. He reckons that with carry over and lower yield due to no feriliser he can supply his current customers this year but nobody else.

 

[Rowreach]

I've already bought mine from my supplier. It's good hay and barn stored and it has taken the pressure of finding it and paying for it this summer.

 

[Wishfilly]

I think it's fairly inevitable that the prices of everything are going to go up over the next 6-8 months, unfortunately. Not just hay, but hard feed, shoes, anything that needs to be transported or processed in any way. With the prices of diesel and electricity going up so much, I don't think there's any other option.

Price rises meaning that things don't get made at all, or that people go out of business are a definite concern. It's very true that hay is something where often you need to spend a lot of money 6 months or so in advance to make it. So perhaps anyone concerned about hay and in a position to do so should speak to suppliers about ordering in bulk in advance?

 

[CanteringCarrot]

The prices going up is one thing, but not making hay at all or reducing the amount made is really a problem. You can't buy what doesn't exist. Some people will pay the high costs in order to have food for their animals, but if that food doesn't exist, then you're really in a bind. That's what makes me the most nervous, is the lack of supply, and people saying they're not bothering to make any/extra/as much.

 

[Sparky Lily]

We paid £6.80 a bale this week. It is more for us anyway due to the extra transport costs. Our supplier reckons it will probably go up to £8 a bale next winter.

 

[Goldenstar]

I can’t see any way there won’t be a huge inflation in the cost of horse keeping .
I experimented this year with leaving the new paddock ( 4ish acres ) as sort of half length standing dried grass looked terrible but I turned the horses onto it in mid feb and they stayed out no forage just small amount when they came in for work .
They have all done very well it worked because it was dry here in Feb and March .
My weekly haylege was costing 140 a week it went to about 25 .
This corresponded with the end of hunting so some of the reduction is because horses where needing less .
I will be working to getting the time I feed them down to as few months as possible .
I am really concerned that we have lived through the age of mass private horse owning there’s a storm of things making things harder and harder .
All in all it’s a really depressing time .

 

[throwaway2022]

I’m likely going to have to fully hay mine this winter, the ground is limited and has been hammered so I’m not hopeful of building up anything to tide us over til spring.

If I’m doing a big order for the whole of winter, when’s best to place it to get the best deal? Or will the price be the same regardless of when I order?

First time having my own place and not relying on a YO to sort all of this ?

Is it hard to find wrapped hay?

 

[milliepops]

Is it hard to find wrapped hay?

personally i don't think it's hard to find but due to the increase in cost of wrap you might be advised to investigate this sooner rather than later because people will be planning how much to buy around now.

 

[Kodak_TBT]

Nope

 

[ameeyal]

We make and sell hay and haylage, these last few days we have had a few messages off people wanting to buy all of our haylage bales . It won’t make a lot of difference to us as we do it all ourselves and don’t fertalise our fields . But some farmers are selling their cattle as they won’t be able to afford to feed them.

 

[Sossigpoker]

I'm very worried about the cost.

We usually pay £3.50 a bale and we've been warned that some suppliers are talking about £7.50 a bale.

Our own supplier says he will need to increase costs. My best guess would be £4.50 to £5.00 per bale.

Small bales are minimum £4.50 here in the SW and have been for a while

 

[dorsetladette]

Ive got enough of last years to see us through next winter. I didn't mean to do it this way, but farmer offered us such a good deal last year it was hard to refuse. They are wrapped but we also have tarps over the tops to stop birds and the worst of the weather.