Anyone else worried about grass shortage?!

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showjump2003

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We live on a very small farm with limited grazing. We have three horses and three cows. Throughout the winter we pay £20 a week for haylage. The last time the haylage guy came to deliver (bought 3 bales three weeks ago) my dad said that we probibly wouldn't need anymore. Well since then we haven't had any rain, the reseed hasn't grown and the the fertilizer didn't have any rain to work! It's finally raining a little now so finbgers crossed the grass will start to grow! The cows have been put on the only field of grass we have, my horses are still on haylage and my haylage supplier has run out of haylage. Hmmmm, not an idea situation! lol Don't worry, ponies won't stalve, will just have to get haylage at an even higher cost.

But I don't think it's a good start to the summer as we are ment to be getting it even drier and hotter this year than last!!!
 
Yes in Surrey no rain for nearly a month so first hay cut might be poor.......hay here is going up already,about 5 years ago ended up paying a fiver a bale after a dry spring and grass in field is poor at the moment as well!
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We had same problem, however we have found a large 8 acre field that has nice grass in it. It means paying for to rent a field but anything to keep my geegees happy lol
 
Our grass is a bit slow to come through too and I noticed this morning that there are a lot of cracks appearing in the ground already. It hasn't rained here for ages, in fact I can't remember when it did last rain?? I am lucky that my mare has a field to herself and there is plenty of grass in there, all we need is a few days of rain and it will shoot through. I am sure it will be fine
 
Not worried about the grass YET, but at this rate I may soon be. Although I have plenty for my girls so I don't think it'll be a problem this summer. I'm more worried about the knock on effect and the lack of haylage that might follow....
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No such problems here - I have obese horses, need to get some cows to graze down the paddocks and have an excess of haylage

Oh and its raining... so will have even fatter horses!
 
Theres rain forecast for later this week. Hopefully an overnight shower or two will perk the grass right up! We are lucky, we rotate between 3 fields every week or so and the sheep get to potter about on the un-horse ones. However the ground in very dry and rutted and hooves are already drying up and looking sorry for themselves.
 
Blooming horses are like barrels on sticks they are so fat. Goodness knows how, the grass has been eaten to nothing as we havent had rain for a month. (They arent getting any hard food either!) I am a bit worried they might explode if the grass actually starts to grow!
 
We have no grass in our fields and the horses are all on haylage. I am worried that the haylage and hay is going to go up this year though!
 
I was concerned but its really warm and raining today
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I missed out getting them rolled before the dry spell as one min ground was too wet then the next as hard as a brick but it should be done soon then fertilised!
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Yer well i hope it rains soon too weve already got ours out on the summer feilds and theyve demolished it, theres nothing left out there we seriously need some rain they can't saty in anymore !!!
 
yeah, we need a bit of rain, the grass is coming through just not as quick as it should be. My lot have hay at night, and will continue to until they stop eating it all up....
 
What grass shortage??

Seriously.... I have too much grass! It was rested as much as possible over the winter to stop it getting poached and now there's too much.
 
my horse is a bit fat at the mo and we're ok for grass at the moment where I keep my mare, although the ground is starting to get very dry and has cracks... At home though we really need some rain as the grass isn't growing - have had to section off the paddock we have .... luckily some rain today, but will def need more haylage...
 
just remeber that just because your field looks bare it doesn't mean theres no grass. I have 4 ponies in a small paddock and they are all maintaining their weight even though they are meant to be dropping it!!. It is there but they are eating it as quick as it comes through...

I know its growing as I've been mowing my lawn every few days..
 
One of the beauties of living in Scotland is that we are rarely without rain for long! I'm not too worried, it's not a flush growth at the moment but then again I have never had my horses out 24/7 this early in the year so I'm wouldn't expect to see the grass I normally turn them on to in May.
 
No shortage of rain here but also no grass, its too cold. I'm still feeding hay, 4 bales a day and I pay nearly £5 a bale! Last year I had to feed right up until june so not complaining too much yet. If I lived down south I'd be rich. (maybe)
 
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