Hay prices

M

Melandmary

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 January 2021
Messages
445
Visit site
Anyone else been told their hay is going up this year? I am not surprised really as it’s been so dry but got a message yesterday that the price per bale small square is going up by 30%. When you have 3 fatties that eat mainly hay diet all year round it’s going to make a huge difference to cost of upkeep. Keeping horses is getting more unaffordable for average joe every year!
 
That’s why I was suprised to see someone on FB selling hay off the field for £4 a bale. Apparently they had 90 enquiries about it!
 
We are selling small bales off the field at £4, and large rounds off the field at £25. Once stored they will be £5 a small and £30 a large.
 
small bales £7 from the feed shop here, £5/£6 from a farmer…i pay £50 for a round bale, but farmer gets them in for us so he’s probably paying less.

North West
 
Just put our small bales up to £5 per bale this year. I don’t think we will be able to sell as many either as don’t think we will get as many. Still got the big field to cut and hoping for a second cut off our bottom ‘wet’ field as it grows stupidly fast down there due to underground springs but will interesting to see how many we get in a day or two when it’s baled compared to last year.
 
My supplier has put the price of large square bales up from £38 to £44 so approx 16%. They say they have about 50% less yield this year which I can believe as we've had hardly any rain. My land is dust so I'm feeding as much hay now as in the winter. The only consolation is that they are not taking on any more customers and have said there won't be a problem with supply.
 
My hay supplier messaged me yesterday to say his round bales are increasing from £40 to £45 but that includes delivery too. He delivers me two at a time. He’s also not taking on new customers. I’m just grateful that I know I will have hay for the Winter! Luckily mine are out 24/7 mostly and I will be making sure I use my grazing carefully.
 
I'm a bit to scared to ask my hay man yet. I've been paying £35 per 4ft round bale for the last 2 winters so I can imagine it will be going up.

Although off the field small bales are going for £4 a bale locally.
 
I’m not surprised, so many people have had less yield and yet it’s still cost as much to harvest the acreage. That’s not even taking in to account the extra demand there will be for it.
 
Squeak said:
I’m not surprised, so many people have had less yield and yet it’s still cost as much to harvest the acreage. That’s not even taking in to account the extra demand there will be for it.
Click to expand...
Not quite sure why you think it costs the same to harvest:
diesel’s gone up, wages / contributions likewise, all machinery parts and transport increased in price - even the binder twine (altho won’t necessarily need as much of that this season....)
 
Exasperated said:
Not quite sure why you think it costs the same to harvest:
diesel’s gone up, wages / contributions likewise, all machinery parts and transport increased in price - even the binder twine (altho won’t necessarily need as much of that this season....)
Click to expand...
think they mean it still costs the same to harvest but they will get less bales
 
I don’t blame the farmers at all, they have to make a living and this crazy dry spell will have ruined a lot of crops I imagine. I won’t be changing my supplier either as they provide me with a reliable source of good quality hay that I test is suitable for my ems ponies and then they send me hay from the same field I have had tested so I will be sticking with them but I just don’t know what I can cut back on now. I am not into fancy tack/ gear/clothing so nothing to shave off there 😂. With the prices of all the basics going up I agree with adorable Alice that there will be increased welfare concerns for equines
 
ours are flying out! delivering them literally as they were baled today. surprisingly we still got just over 200 bales off our best growing field (which is only 2 acres!!)
 
The farm when I keep my horse has
only 70% of it’s normal hay yield. We get all our hay from the farm and he thinks we’ll be ok if we are careful and don’t waste any.
 
Saw an ad today for hay off the field £4.50/small bales, £5 if delivered locally.
Haven't had a price for this years hay yet - it's made and booked but he's too busy harvesting to think about paperwork!
 
Our usual supplier works out what we have previously used and puts it aside for us . Ours are going up by £5 for squares £10 rounds . Can’t moan as he can supply all winter for us and delivers for free .
 
My large bales have gone up by £10 over the last 3 months. Yields are down and there won’t be any for us from the farm this year as it will be needed by the cattle. Luckily I have a good supplier in the next village but I’m expecting it to go up significantly before winter.
 
I collected 100 smalls today straight from the field, £3.50 a bale. Got 50 bales of nice 2024 stuff a few weeks ago - the farmer in that instance needed to clear space as he had managed to bale hay back in April, he said that was the first time he had baled that early in many, many years. I’m in Northern Ireland tho and we have had alternating wet / hot & dry weather over the last wee while. They were also £3.50 a go.

Earlier in the year I paid £4 a bale / £40 for large baled wrapped hay (last summers stuff).
 
We have to buy through the yard, but YO is ace and buys in early. So far 2 fat lorry loads are stacked in the barn. She's warned us it's going to be more expensive, but at the moment we are paying less than the feed stores around here. I'll be interested (scared/appalled/calculating how much overtime I need to take!) to see what the new charge will be when we move onto it.
 
awelshandawarmblood said:
Sadly just have a field with no storage or tractor, so having to collect 20 small bales at a time & tarp them. Could be an interesting & expensive winter! 😔
Click to expand...
I used to supply the RDA with wrapped large rounds of hay. They were stored along the fence line, behind electric tape to keep the horses off them, and rolled into the field for the ring feeders as required. We delivered on a flat bed trailer and rolled them off into place. The wrap protected the bales from the weather.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top