Hay: how worried should we all be?

my hay fields are never ready before the end of july so mine still looking good! he who panicks gets in trouble first.................................. there will be plenty of hay made this year though it will all be late! and of less quality! as long as it is clean does it matter ? there is very few horses (except racers!) that need june hay...
 
ofcourseyoucan said:
my hay fields are never ready before the end of july so mine still looking good! he who panicks gets in trouble first.................................. there will be plenty of hay made this year though it will all be late! and of less quality! as long as it is clean does it matter ? there is very few horses (except racers!) that need june hay...
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Yes its early days yet ,but I must confess to being concerned as this weather is not normal at all,even for a bad year.
 
I think it will all come right weatherwise very soon and we will have plenty of later cut hay/haylage. I am sure there will be enough to go round, it may well be the case that there is a lot more haylage than hay. So long as there is something for them to eat, I will make do somehow.
 
I wish I had your confidence. There is so much energy in this weather system ,driven by hot weather in the USA . Even if it eventualy breaks , we will still have the problem of thunderstorms due to the humidity and the ground drying out. If we are VERY VERY lucky ,we might get an opportunity in mid to late August.IT is too wet even for snatching a haylage cut and the problem is that you cant make safe haylage from overmature grass. The sugar levels are far too low to preserve it. It is much worse than for example taking a first cut and it going bad. At least the next cut is fresh grass. What we have now is fields of grass going to seed and Lignifying. I would NEVER feed a horse on halege made from that stuff.
 
I rang my normal hay supplyer, to ask if he had any last years hay left as it was really nice, he said yes so i have ordered my 12 months supply IM SORTED.
 
ofcourseyoucan said:
my hay fields are never ready before the end of july so mine still looking good! he who panicks gets in trouble first.................................. there will be plenty of hay made this year though it will all be late! and of less quality! as long as it is clean does it matter ? there is very few horses (except racers!) that need june hay...
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Exactly!
 
Boyfriend is a farmer, they have managed to cut silage but no hay as of yet.

Also bear in mind that straw may be in short supply- a lot of corn will go over due to the wind and rain, which ruins the crop because it doesn't come up again... the corn on this farm is very close to going over :(
 
This year's straw that I've seen so far has been such poor quality compared to last years, sadly. I feed straw with hay, so this will cause some concern.

What happens to the palatability of hay if it's gone to seed before it can be cut and baled?
 
Its very strange weather here, two days ago they cancel The Great Yorkshire which is only a few miles away because it was a mud bath. Two dry days and they have got haylage off the fields on the hillside. I was amazed to see it on my way home.

Mind you our field isn't actually that bad which is surprising given that its in the valley bottom.
 
Pale Rider said:
Folk will worry themselves into a price hike.

Not bothered yet, just like the last 50 years.
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ofcourseyoucan said:
my hay fields are never ready before the end of july so mine still looking good! he who panicks gets in trouble first.................................. there will be plenty of hay made this year though it will all be late! and of less quality! as long as it is clean does it matter ? there is very few horses (except racers!) that need june hay...
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I like these attitudes. I've been on HHO for over two summers now, and every year there is a panic about hay/haylage, yet we have all managed fine in the end.

There have been a few second cuts done around here this week, things aren't as bad as we think, hopefully.
 
Yes, you should be worried.

But as soon as we get a break in the weather every mower and baler will be flat out to compensate.

Those with a few acres to do, relying on a contractor or local farmer, may find given the season they struggle to find anyone to make any hay, or if they do the quality is very poor.

I've heard of a few machinery dealers having a run on grass machinery as farmers but there own machines as Contractors will be pushed to get everyones done.
 
I keep my girl on a farm in N Cheshire (SW Manchester) and they haven't cut a single field yet as the ground is too wet to put the machinery on to it. The first cut should have been taken more than 4 weeks ago and if they don't take a first cut, they won't get a second.
 
starting to get slightly worried so phoned my haylage supplier who confirmed he has made 400 large bales of haylage back end of may in the good weather.....yipeeeeee.

I also use some hay start and end of winter but not sure if my 2 acres will be up to much by the time we can cut for hay as it is already falling over but I have decided to let nags have the very edges gradually rather than buy in more hay now (they are still on their winter paddock which needs resting)
 
Have managed to get 165 bales of lovely hay made in the one good week that we had here. Now just waiting for my other farmer to get his. Still have about 60 bales of old hay and a Haygain so feeling quite happy.
 
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