HAY !!!! ££££££

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Gucci_b

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Has anyone spoken to any farmers lately about the hay cutting season this year and how well it might or might not go... ££££££
 
Interested in this too as i am nearly onto my last big bale, farmer has run out and need another supply but wondering if i can allow for it in current livery charges, will keep an eye on this post....
 
i haven't but i'm lucky i have just got 50 bales which were an over spill left from last year that my friend didn't use (her partner and dad hay themselves) for £3.50 a bale which hopefully will last me the winter!!
 
Yes due to little rain East Anglia farmers locally believe there will be a shortage again and one of our local cattle farmers is seriously thinking he wont be able to afford his cattle for next year as they have not got anything to cut for hay to see them through the winter. Beef too£££

If you can get some last years hay reduced I would take it.
 
YO cuts his own and says there is little growth due to the total lack of rain. I think it will be to little too late even if it does chuck it down soon.:( He's talking about doubling prices, but given we have none of last year's left, God knows where he's going to get it. :confused: He was talking about bringing it down from an unspecified area up north where they've had rain.

We're ok for now with most horses out a lot, but come the winter, we will be doubling costs if on straw. Feed will also climb in price: a local farmer says his wheat and barley crops are 'irreversibly damaged' due to the drought like conditions. I honestly think that those with more than one horse at my yard are going to have to reconsider. :(
 
my surgestion would be if you have hay cos your horses are stabled, try and get them turned out 24/7 if you can (i know for some people there are reason why they cant do this) and save the hay for they winter!!
 
I am in sunny Northamptonshire, a friend of mine makes hay for a living. A field was hayed the other week it was 5 acres, they got 4 bales hmmm you make your own mind up. The cost of fed and straw will go up as well dont forget.
 
I am keeping my fingers crossed.
It is looking quite green here at the moment. :)
Some sillaging has been already done, so some are obviosly thinking ahead.
 
I've noticed some have allready had one cut off the fields around our way, probably hopeing to cash in when they decide it hasnt been a good year again, despite the fact that they've had two cuts. The grass on my allotment is 2 ft high!
 
horsey mad matt said:
my surgestion would be if you have hay cos your horses are stabled, try and get them turned out 24/7 if you can (i know for some people there are reason why they cant do this) and save the hay for they winter!!
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If the winter is rough, as it was last year, you'll use just as much hay, if not more, keeping living out horses with plenty of forage to eat to keep warm.
Yes, it's worrying!
 
If suppliers down south are going to get the hay from up here but double the prices, maybe if you've got/have access to a trailer, it might be worth the trip to buy it direct from farmers here.
 
my supplier was saying " hey have i let you down before will be damn fine chuck" said that last year and true to his word damn fine hay all winter and still - he is a damn fine honest farmer - big sigh as want to get on his yard - only has 12 horses at one time but none leave the yard if pts/die - he buries them in a special field - hes words " they are loved horses and their owners need a place to go" such a good nice man with damn fine hay mmmmmm :)
 
The hay situation is very worrying. All my paddocks are bare and I'm feeding haylage already. So that coupled with an inevitable bad harvest round here and we're in big trouble. Livery prices will have to go up again. :(
 
Just be careful about who knows he buries your horses not meant to bury all but own pets, but do agree it is a lovely gesture, just red tape! Hay in northants Bedford area very short and corn farmers that have forward sold being offered a get out clause as corn amounts down
 
Hay may go up on last year but it wont go down.Last year the price only corrected for inflation over the last 20 years.
 
Lets be fair, hay and straw had'nt had a price increase for twenty years or more, before last year!
Everything else is going up around us, but horse people still expect to get hay at £2.50 a small bale.
Get real!
 
I am paying £5 a bale at the moment for last years hay. We have opposite problem - too much rain during summer, making it hard to get it dry long enough to make good hay!
 
I'm allright; Two ponies on 5.6 acres ( obviously not at this time of year, only half an acre ) the rest has been left since last August when it was cut for hay, the same will happen this year, probably get at least 80 bales off it which I sell most of it to my neighbour.

I have grass coming out of my ears, I've advertised for grass liveries, but know one seems to want to pay £15 a week, oh well their loss :)
 
mon said:
Just be careful about who knows he buries your horses not meant to bury all but own pets, but do agree it is a lovely gesture, just red tape! Hay in northants Bedford area very short and corn farmers that have forward sold being offered a get out clause as corn amounts down
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if you are only aloud to bury pets, then you can just say my horses are my pets!!!
 
Silaging being done here in Avon - we've had more rain since the 6 week drought in Mar/Apr so it might have come just in time... hope it keeps raining for a second cut that's all.

I agree with Fii entirely - I think we have been lucky until last year. I think hay/straw prices need to go up. There is much less land to turn into grassland and farm as so much going for building - I'm sure landowners are just waiting for offers from builders! Why make £500 off 10 acres (@£3 a small bale) when you can sell it for a few hundred thousand or more? That only just about pays for fuel, baler hire & helpers. I paid £6.50 and I still think that is cheap in this day and age.

It might make owners think before overfeeding horses this winter...
 
we put down 4 acres each year for haylage and sell enough to pay for our own supply, last year we still had 20 ish bales left this time of the the year , but we have already bought in 20 bales to keep us going. our grass is growing but having only had a shower of rain in the last 2 months we are a long way from cutting and will probably not risk selling any this year now. the heavy snow made us use far more for all livestock. so supply and demand are surely going to raise prices round here
 
We normally make hay for our own use and a some extra bales to sell. This year OH decided to just mow for ourselves. Local horse owners expected us to make small bale hay ,cart it,stack it and store it until they needed it in the winter and not pay more than £2 a bale. Its sickening when you know how much hard graft as well as monetary costs go into it. DH says unless they pay a MINIMUM of £5 a small bale he's not making any for anyone else again. I agree with him.
 
Taking a cut of silage now as some farmers are doing isnt necess a sign of profiteering. In many areas even if the grass is growing it is very short and stressed and is going straight to setting the head and will go to seed very quickly unless harvested. For horses you could live with that and make stalky hay later but if you have cattle to feed/supply, you need to catch it while it still has all the goodness.

We are lucky up in Aberdeenshire, we did have a dry period but have had quite a bit of rain recently. Some areas of grass are over knee high and the Border terrier refuses to go walking through it. The grass starts late here but once it goes it rockets.

But then you wouldnt want our 6 month winters, -20 temps and 100mph winds probably, which is the other side of the coin.....:-)
 
around me a lot of farmers have already cut fields in last couple of weeks. some have baled haylage some have gone for silage. At our yard we make our own, the fields we have specifically for hay/haylage (depending on weather) are growing ok, we have just sold about 200sheep to make extra cutting for later in the year as needed. Last year farmers round me had 3 cuts off there land, each were smaller than normal but usually they do 2 not 3, so had extra in the end!!
There will ofcourse be an increase in price...as thats how the farmers make a living.
 
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