Hay shortages going into winter

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Lauraback

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Hi All,

Anyone else struggling to buy hay this year? Apparently there is a real shortage due to the hot summer we had and no one able to do second cuts.
My horse was previously on hayledge but after a laminitis episode he is off the grass and on soaked hay for the foreseeable 😏
If anyone knows of anyone with hay available around North Essex I would be very grateful 🙏
 
Lauraback said:
Hi All,

Anyone else struggling to buy hay this year? Apparently there is a real shortage due to the hot summer we had and no one able to do second cuts.
My horse was previously on hayledge but after a laminitis episode he is off the grass and on soaked hay for the foreseeable 😏
If anyone knows of anyone with hay available around North Essex I would be very grateful 🙏
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Yes it’s a major issue in some areas! We are in Herefordshire and have big problems…however if you drive to over the border to Wales they have plenty!

Haylage is also going to be an issue this winter, I’ve just ordered a pallet but struggled as multiple companies are not selling to new customers!

Prices of hay and haylage have also gone up considerably, saw someone selling small bales of hay yesterday nearby for £8 a bale 😬 round bales £70/80 is not unusual here either.

What didn’t help is everyone panic buying in the summer…2025 panic buying is hay not 2020 loo rolls 🤪
 
I suspect large nationwide hay/forage companies will be transporting lorryloads from Wales to hay merchants in rest of the country to sell to local suppliers for resale to customers.

Cattle and sheep will get most importance, sports/racing horses next, pet horses with individual owners last.

Hay theft will be rife esp small bales as they are easily carryable, which might be a reason not to stockpile hay now, rather to buy as usual as needed.

If it's mild with some wet bewteen now and Chrsitmas, we'll get some much needed grass growth/ground cover.

Hay may also be imported from the continent for resale over here.

It will be expensive. Nothing we can do about that.

Next year may be different (last year was a really good hay year locally in Cambs with most farmers having lots of 2024 hay left over right through to June this year).

Considering and introducing alternative forages may be needed - sugar beet and fibre pulps, barley straw, alfalfa, hay replacers, chaff, hay blocks, etc.
 
I'm extremely lucky as my current hay supplier took me on when I piggy backed with a friend to get a bale and has kept me on since.

I pay £45 ish per bale for it to be delivered so I get 2 at a time (purely because my boys consistently clear their haynets, and I fed two large nets to each of them, with a large tubtrug on the floor as a back up), so on average I pay £90 per month including delivery.

I am being very careful with my hay and making sure that I have no wastage. I also have switched the boys onto speedi-beet so that I can bulk out their feeds a bit more, provide more fibre and chew time, and to be absolutely adamant that they don't stand with empty stomachs whilst in. Baggs is prone to ulcers so I can't have him without anything in front of him, and Rabbit has a sensitive stomach so again I don't want him stood with nothing.

I have noticed the price of small bales going up to about £4.50 collected each where I am, which is a jump compared to last year's £3.25 collected - but it's an understandable jump.
 
It’s a massive issue, especially in particular areas.

I feel grateful to have foreseen it early and my wonderful farmer supplier (who was unable to cut enough for any external customers this year, only feed his own animals), was able to secure me a years supply through his network.

I’ve had to pay upfront, and they are smaller bales at a higher price, I reckon feeding will cost 40% more this next year.

But I’m thankful just to have secured my supply.
 
As said by in another post .There is no shortage of hay or haylege in Wales .
The spring and summer weather of warm and dry with the odd day of showers means we actually made 3 cuts of wrapped dry haylege this year we usually make 2 cuts we cut at the end of May in early July and mid August so made 100 round bales when we normally would make about 75 ISH.
I'm sure suppliers will be able to source supplies but haulage may put up the price.
 
Just been ringing round locally it’s around £7 per small bale and many have sold out already. Years ago I did get some hay from a local supplier who sourced from Wales and it was full of ragwort so I will never again will I use them. Shame wales is too far to go to myself to grab some which I could check before purchase !
 
setterlover said:
I was on holiday in Shropshire when I said I still had 35 round bales stored in the barn ( the rest had been sold )
Asked if I would sell them (no I wouldn't) usually sell for £30
a bale and was told I could double that and still sell easily!
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Yes seen them advertised locally in Shropshire for £70 and one yesterday was £80!
 
Local big feed merchant is £9.95 small bale collected (fact check, Rokers nr Merrist Wood).
They are marking up on well travelled hay from Wales and the north.

Already seen a couple reports of hay stealing, my advice is to slice through every string as you stack and to keep rugs, barrows etc well away to prevent easy moving.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Local big feed merchant is £9.95 small bale collected (fact check, Rokers nr Merrist Wood).
They are marking up on well travelled hay from Wales and the north.

Already seen a couple reports of hay stealing, my advice is to slice through every string as you stack and to keep rugs, barrows etc well away to prevent easy moving.
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Yes I’ve heard about hay thefts too! It’s really worrying!
 
I'm in Herefordshire which is one of the worst drought affected counties this year.
Lots of hay advertised for £60+/round bale at the moment and £7-8 small bale.

I am VERY lucky, my lovely supplier has confirmed he has enough for this season for us. I offered to pay upfront for it now but he said no need 🙏

It is 4ft rounds of lovely organic, meadow, hay and he has put the prices up from £30 to £35 per bale.
He also drops them off each week for me as I only have room for 3 at a time in the barn.
 
My yard owner is the local hay supplier. She is stressed, Her yield was 50% down on last year.
She has people phoning her daily begging to buy hay, willing to pay silly money for it.

She has enough for the yard and her normal customers. She said she may be able to get a cut off if weather cooperates next week but its not going to be quality enough for horses, only for cows.
 
millitiger said:
I'm in Herefordshire which is one of the worst drought affected counties this year.
Lots of hay advertised for £60+/round bale at the moment and £7-8 small bale.

I am VERY lucky, my lovely supplier has confirmed he has enough for this season for us. I offered to pay upfront for it now but he said no need 🙏

It is 4ft rounds of lovely organic, meadow, hay and he has put the prices up from £30 to £35 per bale.
He also drops them off each week for me as I only have room for 3 at a time in the barn.
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Yep it’s pretty dire here isn’t it?!

You are very lucky!! Im just at a livery yard with limited storage so have to buy small bales or haylage. I’ve just ordered a haylage pallet as I can’t face having to source hay here for crazy money…keeping it at home and bringing it up to the yard as I need it.

Even that’s challenging as haylage companies not supplying “new” customers 😌
 
I was just quoted £55 for 4 string bale. We have 70 bales of haylage luckily but just not got enough horses in yet to justify opening it so hence buying hay. The good thing is if we open a crap bale of haylage we have farmers clamouring to take it away for us for cows.
 
The mild warm weather now with the crazy grass growth is allowing many to chuck everything back out on the grass and stop feeding hay. The longer this lasts the more there might be left to get everyone through the winter! Cows locally have been eating hay all summer. Now they are out in huge numbers on the grass, eating merrily.

SEL said:
Vet was moaning last week that the Appy was fat & i was thinking if ever there's a year i need horses to go into winter with blubber it's this one....
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My ponies keep trying to tell me this! Bit of a toss up between lami and needed weight on with the grass the way it is though. I have one with the squits on a starvation paddock with haylage the grass is so rich!
 
Parts of Devon are like this but where I am there is plenty of hay. We only got one cut of the 12 acre but that produced 86 round bales. The grass is growing again now too.
 
I've travelled to North Yorkshire today and there was a lot of arctics and drag loaded with hay and straw coming south on the motorways. Plenty of full barns in the area I'm currently in but it all looks like straw not hay.
 
The West Country has been dry in my area this year. Silage yields are down and only a few cuts. I luckily source my hay from a local company for whom it’s sideline from the main farm. I had a delivery last week of small bale £4:50 and bale and they have plenty left for existing customers this year, they aren’t taking on any new customers though.
 
I'm in South Wales & theres next to nothing here - my small bales are now £7 or £8 (depending on the quality) from my normal supplier.
I can only store 30 at a time as I have a little storage in a field so will need to top up monthly - luckily my usual supplier said we should be fine with him as most of his regulars have panic bought from all over the place & have said they're fully stocked instead of needing it off him regularly all winter. Doesn't stop me worrying though in case someone does clear him out!
West Wales on the other hand has loads of hay! Literally like chalk & cheese depending on your area.
 
We have really good growing conditions here now so farmers are busy silaging and my farmer reckons he should get another Haylage cut. I'm going to eek my grass out as long as possible, but I do have enough Haylage for a standard winter. Just got to hope we don’t have a really cold or a really wet one 🤞
 
My hay has gone up by £10 for a round bale. That's not as bad as I was expecting although I suspect it will go up again after Christmas. The local feed shop is charging £9 for a small bale now. I'm feeling fortunate that I only have two little ponies now, so any shortages won't affect me too greatly. I hope my supplier has stopped selling to new people, which they usually do when it's in short supply.
 
I have had several enquires for hay, from people who knew that I used to supply the RDA group, which is no more. They all seem to believe that I will have hay stacked up to the rafters to sell. In reality there is only enough for my use and the one other regular customer that I have. I would not have been able to supply hay for the RDA ponies at all this season.
 
My supplier had 2 reasonable cuts this year, and took a cut off some of our new land (not horse land) which means our supply is guaranteed and our prices are staying the same (part of the contract, he’s getting a load of extra basically free hay for his sheep, and possibly some to sell). Last year’s hay is still being used as well, so I think we’re lucky this year.

He’s still supplying a local RS, I don’t know if he’s taking on any new clients though.

Very lucky though, there’s someone literally a village over who was the big supplier in that area, who barely took a cut this year and is seriously going to be struggling.
 
SEL said:
Vet was moaning last week that the Appy was fat & i was thinking if ever there's a year i need horses to go into winter with blubber it's this one....
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That’s a really good point. I find it weird that mine are fat considering we had zero grass all summer but a good way to look at it.
Oddly the two live out ones have the best looking grass now that they have had this year but are suddenly hungry and have started hoovering the hay that they were previously leaving up and needing it twice a day instead of that amount lasting.
 
We got 2 cuts of haylage, got more than enough, sold to the yard for £35 a bale or £10 per horse. The feedstore are charging £45 for rounds of hay or haylage and £6 for small bales of hay.

Nothing gone up since last year but I guess if you more southern people are having a shortage it'll travel down there then we'll struggle.

My farmer has been gradually burning his perfectly good leftovers from last year to make room - he doesn't like strangers coming to the yard so would rather destroy it 😬

My smallest one needs soaked hay so I have to buy in, I'm imagining I'll struggle come spring. I can buy a fair amount in but people nick it if you do.
 
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