Hay prices

Squeak said:
Another just hoping we get a good year for hay this year. No idea what we will do if we don't or the grass doesn't grow back on the fields.
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I walked my fields yesterday.

In Autumn, when it did finally rain, I weeded, seeded and fertilised. There is now at least grass cover, whereas at the end of summer it had vast bald patches. It isn't half the length that it normally would be though, and there is a lot of moss, despite adding moss killer. The moss has grown due to no grass cover.

I think I will fertilise again in spring, which I do not normally do because of EMS. It will need more moss killer too. It was expensive in autumn and now in spring too, and with the EMS horse I thank my lucky stars for an effective muzzle as it may be that the grass is now 'the wrong type' for him!
 
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@Red-1 I'm not an expert but rather than fertilising, could you harrow to help with drainage (and lift as much moss as possible) then apply lime to reduce the acidity of the ground and make it less favourable to moss? That would probably also be less risky for your EMS pony than fertilising.
 
I spoke to soon. Ordered my hay delivery last night (order 4 rounds a month) and he has increased his prices by 50% since the beginning of Jan. He's had to buy in to supply us so I understand but it's a bit of a shock and a massive dent in my planned budgets for things I wanted to purchase before the clocks change.
 
What a fair few people are not understanding about price rises in the new year. Storage costs. For every week a building is being taken up by hay, it is unable to be used for any other purpose. That building was put up to earn money. Hay made in June has been in that building for 7 months already. A lot of farm buildings are multi purpose, even if it is only for machinery storage and machines depreciate more stood outside than when under cover. Farms cannot afford to put up buildings for hay without factoring that into the cost of the hay.
 
kaiserchief said:
@Red-1 I'm not an expert but rather than fertilising, could you harrow to help with drainage (and lift as much moss as possible) then apply lime to reduce the acidity of the ground and make it less favourable to moss? That would probably also be less risky for your EMS pony than fertilising.
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Hi, thank you. I did also lime, and the drainage was re-done in 2024!

It is clay and the weather was against us.
 
dorsetladette said:
I spoke to soon. Ordered my hay delivery last night (order 4 rounds a month) and he has increased his prices by 50% since the beginning of Jan. He's had to buy in to supply us so I understand but it's a bit of a shock and a massive dent in my planned budgets for things I wanted to purchase before the clocks change.
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I hope it's lovely and worth the extra 50% for peace of mind.

I'm having a bale of haylage delivered n today in the hope that mixing it will get them to eat the hay I have. If not, it's £150 wasted :(
 
Squeak said:
Another just hoping we get a good year for hay this year. No idea what we will do if we don't or the grass doesn't grow back on the fields.
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With the greatest respect and sympathy, you and the many people similarly situated would have to cut back on their horses or livestock, or cut back on other spending, or take on greater debt.
However, another 2025 spring might cull out the most marginally and miserably kept horses, with focus on better grassland and Equine management, because current horsiculture is notoriously bad.
 
meleeka said:
I hope it's lovely and worth the extra 50% for peace of mind.

I'm having a bale of haylage delivered n today in the hope that mixing it will get them to eat the hay I have. If not, it's £150 wasted :(
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I hope the quality is better/less waste at the extra cost.

I'm sure you will be able to sell on if you cant convince them to eat it.
 
I received 12 timothy haylage bales, large ish 4 string ones, i paid £65 for them in November, got the invoice through and they where £80 a bale. I have no choice but to have them as he had ran out of meadow but a heads up would have been nice!
These are not bales he had bought in, they are one he cut himself, same as the last batch i had. part of me understands, supply and demand and all that but as i said, he didnt buy them in so a little confused as to the increase. I havent asked or queried as i'm not going to rock the boat and i need the hay.
To give him his due, he works his butt off and is all over the place trying to supply people but i was a little :oops: at the increase. This lot should last me and my friend for about 3 months so i'll need to order again before anything is cut and that makes me very nervous.
 
vam said:
I received 12 timothy haylage bales, large ish 4 string ones, i paid £65 for them in November, got the invoice through and they where £80 a bale. I have no choice but to have them as he had ran out of meadow but a heads up would have been nice!
These are not bales he had bought in, they are one he cut himself, same as the last batch i had. part of me understands, supply and demand and all that but as i said, he didnt buy them in so a little confused as to the increase. I havent asked or queried as i'm not going to rock the boat and i need the hay.
To give him his due, he works his butt off and is all over the place trying to supply people but i was a little :oops: at the increase. This lot should last me and my friend for about 3 months so i'll need to order again before anything is cut and that makes me very nervous.
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I'm happy to pay a premium for a constant supply, from a farmer that I know will always do what he can to make sure my ponies have hay. In other years, we've had an odd bale that's not up to the usual quality. A couple of friends who used to use the same supplier decided that they could get nicer hay for a cheaper price elsewhere, so changed. They are now scrambling around for any quality hay because theirs has run out, because their new supplier doesn't care who they sell it to.
 
meleeka said:
I'm happy to pay a premium for a constant supply, from a farmer that I know will always do what he can to make sure my ponies have hay. In other years, we've had an odd bale that's not up to the usual quality. A couple of friends who used to use the same supplier decided that they could get nicer hay for a cheaper price elsewhere, so changed. They are now scrambling around for any quality hay because theirs has run out, because their new supplier doesn't care who they sell it to.
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Yes same issues with friends locally. I'm happy to have a supplier that can see past the instant ££££ and realise his core customers will stay with him in future years if we're looked after now -it's a two way street.
 
Exasperated said:
With the greatest respect and sympathy, you and the many people similarly situated would have to cut back on their horses or livestock, or cut back on other spending, or take on greater debt.
However, another 2025 spring might cull out the most marginally and miserably kept horses, with focus on better grassland and Equine management, because current horsiculture is notoriously bad.
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I'd meant it more as a generalisation of I don't know what the horses and other animals (cows, sheep etc.) will do if we get another year like last year two years in a row as there's not much reserve stock to get through another year of haying all summer and then minimal yields to top it up. My horse is also just so fed up of hay, he'd like some proper spring grass!

Unfortunately I think those that are kept miserably are probably the ones who would just carry on obliviously and it would be those who look after their horses really well on a tight budget that are the ones who would suffer and sell as understandably, when budgeting you wouldn't expect a 50% + increase in the cost of hay never mind that you're suddenly having to feed it for twice the amount of time that you normally would.
 
vam said:
I received 12 timothy haylage bales, large ish 4 string ones, i paid £65 for them in November, got the invoice through and they where £80 a bale. I have no choice but to have them as he had ran out of meadow but a heads up would have been nice!
These are not bales he had bought in, they are one he cut himself, same as the last batch i had. part of me understands, supply and demand and all that but as i said, he didnt buy them in so a little confused as to the increase. I havent asked or queried as i'm not going to rock the boat and i need the hay.
To give him his due, he works his butt off and is all over the place trying to supply people but i was a little :oops: at the increase. This lot should last me and my friend for about 3 months so i'll need to order again before anything is cut and that makes me very nervous.
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In my 1970s A level Economics class we were taught that there were two main causes of inflation. The first was 'cost push' - so your hay supplier has to buy in hay from further afield which maybe costs him more to buy and he then has the additional extra cost of getting it from the further away source to him/her self. The second is 'demand pull' - if lots of people want something, particularly if it has become scarce, then price will go up. If we have a good year for hay this year then the price should fall a bit. I think hay has been relatively cheap for years so I doubt it will fall that much. The telling time will be when farmers/ suppliers want space in their storage for some reason or other and hay is taking up that space.
 
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Chianti said:
In my 1970s A level Economics class we were taught that there were two main causes of inflation. The first was 'cost push' - so your hay supplier has to buy in hay from further afield which maybe costs him more to buy and he then has the additional extra cost of getting it from the further away source to him/her self. The second is 'demand pull' - if lots of people want something, particularly if it has become scarce, then price will go up. If we have a good year for hay this year then the price should fall a bit. I think hay has been relatively cheap for years so I doubt it will fall that much. The telling time will be when farmers/ suppliers want space in their storage for some reason or other and hay is taking up that space.
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We were on lockdown in the March. Incredibly hot and dry spring. Followed by a horrendous wet winter. All suppliers local to me were out by the February. Prices rocketed. Not as high as this winter though. However, the following summer was an incredible crop. I
Has so much grass that I strip grazed for months. The hay prices dropped dramatically and never really went up much. Until now …. It will be interesting to see what happens this year if it’s a good one.
 
Any idea whether you can soak chaff like you do with hay?

We have unlimited pretty poor feed value haylage (tested) but my cobs are on soaked hay which will run out.

There is a guy near me that does cheap chaff, it's 15kg of chopped and dust extracted hay for £8.

Trying to decide whether to buy a load. I'm thinking it wouldn't drain well after soaking so might start to ferment?


Also, have you seen the price of straw chaff?! Honeychop oat straw chaff is 30% more expensive than their original which is oat straw chaff with a molasses coating. I assume people are buying it to use in bulk.
 
Jambarissa said:
Any idea whether you can soak chaff like you do with hay?

We have unlimited pretty poor feed value haylage (tested) but my cobs are on soaked hay which will run out.

There is a guy near me that does cheap chaff, it's 15kg of chopped and dust extracted hay for £8.

Trying to decide whether to buy a load. I'm thinking it wouldn't drain well after soaking so might start to ferment?


Also, have you seen the price of straw chaff?! Honeychop oat straw chaff is 30% more expensive than their original which is oat straw chaff with a molasses coating. I assume people are buying it to use in bulk.
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Could you ask for a carrier bags worth to try? If your haylage is low calorie, why not feed that?

Straw is £5 a bale here now, so not really a cheap feed stuff. I think you are right though, they've upped the price because they can.
 
meleeka said:
Could you ask for a carrier bags worth to try? If your haylage is low calorie, why not feed that?

Straw is £5 a bale here now, so not really a cheap feed stuff. I think you are right though, they've upped the price because they can.
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The straw was short (in length and therefore quantity) this year due to the drought, so again a demand/supply issue.
 
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