Hay prices

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KikiDee

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Are people just taking the p*** with hay prices now?

Don't get me wrong I'm aware there's a shortage and it's supply & demand - my own bales have gone up from £40 to £60 which I have no issue paying, it is what it is this year. But I'm seeing hay advertised for extortionate eye-watering amounts. £15 for small bales of hay, £20 for small bales of haylage, over £150 for large bales. All my local suppliers also have a good stock of hay, though a few have said they won't take new clients on this year which is fair, none are worried about running out (they haven't hiked prices this much for the record).

Part of me thinks fair enough in their position why not see how much you can get per bale if you've had a short crop, part of me thinks horse owners are being thoroughly exploited by a challenging market. If you can ship a trailer load in you can still get a fair price, but for those who have to buy small loads locally it seems to be like it or lump it.

Do we think prices will start to drop on the 'open market' towards the end of winter when over-priced hay hasn't sold? I really wonder if the market will ever settle back down a bit, though I am seeing bales being reduced in price in adverts already as obviously no interest at the crazy high price.

We're fortunate we still have quite a bit of hay locally, I really feel for people in areas where there is just nothing about. 😰
 
It's supply and demand. Nobody told the horses there is a shortage, so the demand is more than the supply. Some suppliers are indeed shipping it in, which obviously affects what they charge it out at. I'm pretty sure there won't be any left to be reduced at the end of the winter where I am, so suppliers could end up with a similar income that they usually get. I've already been told to expect less quality towards the spring from my supplier. They are selling the best ones now and have some not so good ones for when they run out. They've only put their prices up by £10 a round so far. Suppliers hiking prices up high probably haven't got loyal customers to worry about so can charge whatever they want and if someone is that desperate, they'll pay it.
 
This too, shall pass.

Just got to suck it up within reason.

Plus change up management a bit, where you can.

Usually we just throw round bales out and let them eat as much as they want.

This year they aren't getting such a luxury and are having to have set amounts put out once or twice a day, dependent on the weather. Plus a decent bucket feed.

Of course if we get snow on the ground or a prolonged freeze, then we will have to be more generous, but for now, rations are working out just fine. Albeit, it takes more work.
 
My yard buys in hay for their part liveries, big 5 string bales, gone from £55 to £110 per bale. They have had to put there prices up to cover it, which is quite right. A couple of liveries complained, asked why the hay has gone up so much, why didnt they stockpile it and not build a barn for it to be stored in. It was an eye opener!
For me i buy my own in, square bales of timothy which are £65 per bale, i normally have meadow but he couldnt get to them when i ordered and i'm happy with timothy as i dont actually feed as much in winter as she is on better grazing. The meadow were £54 which was only £2 more than last year. He does travel all over collecting and delivering so has a very good supply but it's still a worry at the back of my mind. I have mine on a small track during the summer and i get through a lot and couldnt do small bales so have to suck up any cost.
I have no issue with the prices going up, especially if they are buying in, moving it, all these extras add on. My worry is if prices dont come down to near what they where, i know full well they wont come back down to before but close would be nice.
 
We've been selling our hay for £40 round £45 square and have just about run out. We've been warning people for weeks we won't have the stock to supply them after Christmas and to start sourcing elsewhere. The amount of shirtiness Andy has had this past week from people who he's told he's run out has been ridiculous , they've had plenty of time to organise something else but they just haven't bothered - probably because they don't want to pay higher prices and they're making it all our fault that they're going to have to pay silly money. It isn't our fault everyone else is being greedy. I said we should have put our prices up a bit more at the beginning so we were more inline with others rather than being fair then people would have been more inclined to have a shop around.

We've been able to source some at £70 and Andy has said he'll buy it in and sell it at what it's cost him with a bit on for delivery but people seem to want him to buy it in at £75 and still sell it at £45. I've said next year we should just get rid of everyone, keep a bit back for us,sell the rest on a lorry and do away with having to deal with people.
 
I was chatting to a local feed supplier and talking about hay prices and she said the price rises are not so much about shortage of hay but about making more money to pay for IHT and the fact that certain farming subsidies have come to an end means farmers have to make money elsewhere. I don't know if that is true though.
 
Fair enough we all know farmers have to increase but there are some cases of people being greedy . We agreed ours in August with our usual supplier and was more than happy to pay the extra . He allocates an amount for his few clients and he will drop off and stack so I’m more than happy for the extrs cost / we knew in advance so that’s fine .

My friends usual supplier has just sprung it on her that she will have to pay double
(£80 for a 4 string ) from today as he can sell elsewhere if she won’t . This to me isn’t really fair as she has been a loyal customer for over 10yrs and he said he wouldn’t increase too much .

What do you do though? Hard one as farmers are out of pocket but also people are taking the mick a bit
 
I wonder if it would work to import hay from Northern Ireland? There is plenty of hay at reasonable prices on Gumtree and other sites. Not sure how the import rules work though.
 
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KikiDee said:
Are people just taking the p*** with hay prices now?

Don't get me wrong I'm aware there's a shortage and it's supply & demand - my own bales have gone up from £40 to £60 which I have no issue paying, it is what it is this year. But I'm seeing hay advertised for extortionate eye-watering amounts. £15 for small bales of hay, £20 for small bales of haylage, over £150 for large bales. All my local suppliers also have a good stock of hay, though a few have said they won't take new clients on this year which is fair, none are worried about running out (they haven't hiked prices this much for the record).

Part of me thinks fair enough in their position why not see how much you can get per bale if you've had a short crop, part of me thinks horse owners are being thoroughly exploited by a challenging market. If you can ship a trailer load in you can still get a fair price, but for those who have to buy small loads locally it seems to be like it or lump it.

Do we think prices will start to drop on the 'open market' towards the end of winter when over-priced hay hasn't sold? I really wonder if the market will ever settle back down a bit, though I am seeing bales being reduced in price in adverts already as obviously no interest at the crazy high price.

We're fortunate we still have quite a bit of hay locally, I really feel for people in areas where there is just nothing about. 😰
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As others have said, a short crop costs about as much to make as a better one, so it's reasonable that the price goes up per bale to cover this - it's not just the farmers seeing how much they can get. Even if it was, it's how most retail markets work - it's not unkind exploitation, it's just a product in demand.

I would add, most suppliers have to deal with a whole bunch of fairly fickle customers - who don't just shop around for price, but who also pay late or phone up when they've got half a bale left expecting quick delivery. I can totally understand them prioritising regular quick-paying customers when supply is low. My policy this year has been to pay the same day (which I always did) and to keep in touch with my two good suppliers, letting them know when I have space in the barn for a decent load but it isn't yet urgent. It still isn't cheap but I do believe that being a good customer helps a little in guaranteeing a supply (still worried about next year though, I need about another 400 bales to see me through!).

As to whether prices will drop. Not this winter, I think suppliers will move stock about from areas with decent amounts to shortages, but that comes with greater transportation costs (and diminishes supplies in areas where there might have been enough) - or import from abroad. Worryingly, my main and brilliant supplier said that he has just spent a fortune seeding the fields that burnt off in summer which will have to be added to next year's price, so we might see that next year we are still paying high prices to cover recovery of the hay stocks. And if we get another dry summer, who knows.
 
Flowerofthefen said:
Have seen an advert for wrapped hay £50 per bale. There were that many enquiries he put it up to £65! That really isn't fair!
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Why isn't it ? supply and demand will push prices of everything up to the maximum. Having a horse is a privilege. The supplier putting prices to £65 will likely never see the purchasers of it again so why should he not max his income out.

Horse people are always looking for the cheapest deals and this year those without loyalty to forage suppliers really are paying the price. The last time we saw forage shortage was 2017 all be it not so extreme as this year. God help a lot of horses if the weather turns in January onwards, there is amply grazing about for many now but bad weather will see that disappear.
 
Where I am some suppliers are buying in from Ireland and I'm not surprised they're then having to charge a lot for it. Farmers are saying they were doing well to get a third of their normal crop though a lot of what they did get was nice. I'm lucky, my regular supplier has enough to supply me, butif I had to I'd bite the bullet and pay more to get good hay rather than some of the iffy stuff I've seen. Around here haylage dosn't seem to have gone up as much as hay, particularly small bale branded haylage.
 
Nari said:
Where I am some suppliers are buying in from Ireland and I'm not surprised they're then having to charge a lot for it. Farmers are saying they were doing well to get a third of their normal crop though a lot of what they did get was nice. I'm lucky, my regular supplier has enough to supply me, butif I had to I'd bite the bullet and pay more to get good hay rather than some of the iffy stuff I've seen. Around here haylage dosn't seem to have gone up as much as hay, particularly small bale branded haylage.
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Yes, I'm using small bale branded haylage and although it has gone up a little, not as much as hay and there doesn't seem to be a shortage of it at the moment.
 
We made smaller and lighter bales this year, but still only got half the usual number. The quality is excellent and not a blade is getting wasted here, I hope that my customer is also not wasting any as it looks as if we may run out by March. It is so good even the sheep are eating everything, normally the equines get the dregs from their ring feeder when a new bale is put out.

My donkeys can cope with purchased barley straw as their fodder supply and I am suggesting to my customer that she also feeds straw alongside her hay but she will have to source her own.
 
ester said:
They’re importing from France already.

It’s not just supply vs demand but if getting less yield per acre as many did significantly costs of production will need to be covered.
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I appreciate the lower yield and covering costs which is why I had no issue with our prices going up at start of winter - farmer worked out what he had and what he needed to charge and let us know. But there is definitely a trend around here of prices climbing week by week from the same suppliers - I get it, it's supply and demand and why wouldn't you charge what you can, it's basic business. I just worry for those with horses who have no choice but to buy around what they can get, going to be a tough winter.
 
Follysmum said:
Fair enough we all know farmers have to increase but there are some cases of people being greedy . We agreed ours in August with our usual supplier and was more than happy to pay the extra . He allocates an amount for his few clients and he will drop off and stack so I’m more than happy for the extrs cost / we knew in advance so that’s fine .

My friends usual supplier has just sprung it on her that she will have to pay double
(£80 for a 4 string ) from today as he can sell elsewhere if she won’t . This to me isn’t really fair as she has been a loyal customer for over 10yrs and he said he wouldn’t increase too much .

What do you do though? Hard one as farmers are out of pocket but also people are taking the mick a bit
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I think this is the thing for sure. I'm fortunate our suppliers have all set a price based on what they had and what profit they needed to make at the start of winter and stuck with it, but warned us when it's gone it's gone. But I am seeing hay advertised for triple the cost (grown not bought in) which is clearly monopolising on peoples desperation. I get that it's business at the end of the day but it's a really tough winter for those who can't buy in large loads or have the option to buy in bulk while it's around and store.
 
New Forests Rock said:
Thank heavens for all the bl***y grass I am usually moaning about 🙈 Seriously, I am very concerned for those whose supplies are running short🙏
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It's such a worry isn't it. I think we're in a fairly fortunate area where there is still plenty around and I have the option of getting a trailer load in from further away if needed but I know other parts of the country there is literally nothing. 😰
 
Our small bales have gone up a pound and I thought that was bad but reading this thread maybe it’s not quite so bad! Scary times
 
KikiDee said:
I appreciate the lower yield and covering costs which is why I had no issue with our prices going up at start of winter - farmer worked out what he had and what he needed to charge and let us know. But there is definitely a trend around here of prices climbing week by week from the same suppliers - I get it, it's supply and demand and why wouldn't you charge what you can, it's basic business. I just worry for those with horses who have no choice but to buy around what they can get, going to be a tough winter.
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As per the graph the wholesale/trade price is climbing weekly too though.

It was interesting to read they dont track the price on big rounds at their weight varies so much. You can check per region too, they have a big excel sheet.

16.11128
23.11129
30.11130
7.12132
14.12134
 
Keith_Beef said:
Every winter I read a thread like this.

And every winter there seem to be a lot of people either surprised or outraged by the increase in price.
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It's always a thing for those who buy in over the winter as opposed to getting stocked up off the field at harvest which is cheaper, and generally the price rises as we go through the winter, and depends on the weather and how much the housed cattle get through and if they have to be housed for longer due to ground conditions or if they can go back out onto the fields to eat grass

But last summers crop was very low yield in some places due to lacking rain, hay needs water to grow, as it gets taller it needs a fair bit to get through to the ground, then if course it needs sun during the harvest to dry it, I once made a whole winters worth of hay from cutting to baling in 24 hours, sun and a strong wind did that, but that was in france !

Sorry for the lecture, but hay is just. Well so important
 
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