Hay shortages this winter?

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chocolategirl

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Hi everyone, I’m sure there has already been posts on this subject, but I’m just wondering if like me, anyone else is feeling mildly panicky over the potential shortage of forage this winter? We managed to make 2400 bales this year, which under normal circumstances, would be more than enough, however, we are already going through it at an alarming rate and I’m starting to feel anxious at what may be facing us come winter? Anyone else? Please tell me I’m worrying unneccessarily! We have 25 horses/ponies on the yard (DIY) and due to little grass now, some owners are feeding, IMO, far too much for their horses needs, but don’t seem to care. I think they just assume I’ll source some if we run out! I’ve got 6 and not one of them is underweight, quite the opposite in facet, so they’re clearly still getting something from the grass? Never thought I would say this, but please please let it rain soon! Ahhhh feel a little better now having shared lol!🤣
 
I'm hopping mad because up here during the warm dry weather (It has been raining intermittently for a couple of weeks here now) there were some beautiful bales of hay being made. But loads of farmers have left their bales out on the fields during the subsequent wetter weather and it's all gone black and horrid! What a waste! I just hope there's enough decent hay for winter (there should be, we've had perfect weather and the grass is growing so no supplementary forage needed) but having seen how the first cut has been treated I'm not confident!

ETA... maybe leaving bales out to get wet is standard practice? I don't know really but watching it turn black has been distressing.
 
Just browsing hay prices here, out of curiosity.


Example prices:
Lucerne (alfalfa) hay at between €140 and €165 per tonne.
Small bails of grass hay, around 15kg each, between €2 and €2.50
Big rounds of grass hay, around €100 per tonne.

I assume that this is without transport costs.
 
PapaverFollis said:
I'm hopping mad because up here during the warm dry weather (It has been raining intermittently for a couple of weeks here now) there were some beautiful bales of hay being made. But loads of farmers have left their bales out on the fields during the subsequent wetter weather and it's all gone black and horrid! What a waste! I just hope there's enough decent hay for winter (there should be, we've had perfect weather and the grass is growing so no supplementary forage needed) but having seen how the first cut has been treated I'm not confident!

ETA... maybe leaving bales out to get wet is standard practice? I don't know really but watching it turn black has been distressing.
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This infuruates me!! We had such a long run of brilliant weather here and yet farmers didnt bother bringing the baled hay off the fields so there are some places with literally hundreds of round bales sat out growing mould 😏
 
Even if there doesn't end up being an actual shortage, there probably will be an artificial one from people panic buying. It's too early to tell yet, but we might get lucky and have perfect weather for a second harvest. Even so, I'll admit I'm resisting the urge to call my hay guy up and get a van load of bales in.
I'm not feeding it currently though, there's enough dried grass and hedge for them to munch on, judging by their waistlines and poo production!
 
Been slightly scared of the same. After we made our hay and i stupidly miscalculated what i'd need/used last winter, gave away the surplus then realised i was wrong, coupled with the fact I'm feeding hay now 24/7 which I've never ever done in summer before I am a little nervous!
 
It never happens the other way round, for example if the weather turns good say end of Feb and the grass kicks off early next year, then noone starts saying oh great we can put away the surplus hay we haven't used for extra forage next year and keep prices down ;)
 
OP, I think I'm in the same county as you, so I can relate to your worries. We made our own but the yield was down, hay will be in short supply in these parts. It remains to be seen whether areas which haven't suffered as much will be able to make up the shortfall.

I'd certainly advise those folk who can store it to buy in enough now to last the winter.
 
They are feeding this years hay to cattle now in some places because there is not enough grass .
Yield is down 20% here .
Unless something changes quickly and there’s a great second crop forage is going to be short and thus expensive .
Wood based bedding is going to be more expensive as well .
 
chocolategirl said:
Hi everyone, I’m sure there has already been posts on this subject, but I’m just wondering if like me, anyone else is feeling mildly panicky over the potential shortage of forage this winter? We managed to make 2400 bales this year, which under normal circumstances, would be more than enough, however, we are already going through it at an alarming rate and I’m starting to feel anxious at what may be facing us come winter? Anyone else? Please tell me I’m worrying unneccessarily! We have 25 horses/ponies on the yard (DIY) and due to little grass now, some owners are feeding, IMO, far too much for their horses needs, but don’t seem to care. I think they just assume I’ll source some if we run out! I’ve got 6 and not one of them is underweight, quite the opposite in facet, so they’re clearly still getting something from the grass? Never thought I would say this, but please please let it rain soon! Ahhhh feel a little better now having shared lol!��
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Nope not worried at all as our local hayman said he has plenty of hay and no shortage in winter.
 
ILuvCowparsely said:
Nope not worried at all as our local hayman said he has plenty of hay and no shortage in winter.
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Wow how lucky are you! Out of interest where in the country are you? In Cheshire everything is going brown and looks burnt off, it’s the worst I can remember since ‘76 ☹️
 
All the hay people round here have a lot more than usual as they have got it in dry and well made. They dont take a second cut and most people have either got their hay or will collect small amounts at a time. I think the issue is livestock are eating hay earlier than usual but with a bit of luck we will get rain and they will have grass for longer into the autumn after all the weather is very unpredictable and any excuse to scare monger and raise prices will be used. Every year we get the same scare tactics. Last year it was too wet to make hay until well into the autumn but by this time last yer the scare mongering was going on about shortages. I think the shortage was actually due to the late spring more than the bad summer last year.
 
All of Europe is in the same situation as us .
Sweden is on fire and they killing stock because they can’t feed them.
Usually we lose our hay crop because of rain at the wrong time and in that situation others have done better because it all evens out this year most of Europe is short of forage because we are all in the same boat .
There’s still time for rain to save the day and second and even a third crop might be possible but it’s not looking good atm .
In Emergency’s we import forage from Canada this is of course very expensive .
 
chocolategirl said:
Wow how lucky are you! Out of interest where in the country are you? In Cheshire everything is going brown and looks burnt off, it’s the worst I can remember since ‘76 ☹️
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They did their first cut and of may and baled beginning of June, hay is greenish - they got a second cut but not so many bales. I am in SE of London
 
ILuvCowparsely said:
They did their first cut and of may and baled beginning of June, hay is greenish - they got a second cut but not so many bales. I am in SE of London
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Gosh! I'm literally just the other side of London (SW of the city) and round here the hay cut was end May/1st week in June, nothing has grown since as we've had no rain since beginning of May!
The 1st cut was a very good one tho :)
 
Our fields look like the sahara but I think people underestimate how much the horses are getting from what there is. My TB is looking very 'well' despite being worked every day and just has a nibble of hay when he comes in. If I leave him in the stable with some hay after about 30 minutes he is asking to go back out so obviously not hungry, and judging by our poo picking efforts, their output is well up to normal. I DIY on a farm which makes its own hay/haylage and straw but well aware if we have another winter like the last one we don't want to start using too much now.
 
fredflop said:
There is scare mongering every year on here...
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Common farmer tactic haha.
General opinion is that quantity is down but quailty is going to be way higher than last year.
OP- sort your liveries out! Or warn them if you have to outsource it in January their livery price will reflect that!
 
First cuts round here were high yield and not a blade was lost to rain.

Second cuts are underway as I type.

We all seem to have lost the ability to cope with actual seasons these days.
 
I agree with Roweach. Plenty of hay cut and baled before the dry spell. If there will be an issue it will be that everyone is feeding their winter rations 2-3 months before they normally would. Which means they might go short in Mar next year. If we get normal rain in Aug should be ok.
 
I normally get enough hay from my fields to feed my lot and sell to three customers. Last winter I had to drop one of the customers as I could not supply all three with the amounts they were getting through. This years crop is wonderful stuff but not enough of it and one of the remaining customers can only have half the quantity she requires. My old permanant pastures were slow to start growing due to the cool wet conditions in spring.

I am so pleased that I had a really hard sort out of my sheep selling out all culls and store lambs at the end of April beginning of May.
 
Crops are light in NE England, prices are going up and I do think hay/haylage will be in short supply this year.

Edited to add we have had a call from Sweden to enquire about exporting hay. The situation over there sounds pretty dire.
 
fredflop said:
There is scare mongering every year on here...
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I’m not scaremongering☹️ I’ve got plenty, my concern is that we’re already getting through it due to some of my clients allowing their horses to virtually ‘inhale’ it! We had a bumper crop also, but as I said it won’t last if we continue at the rate we’re going. I usually rely on lots and lots of grass going into winter as we rest our fields in order to have this, but nothing seems to be growing. I know I’m probably stressing for no reason, I guess I’m just going to have to hold my breath and hope for the best! At least I won’t have to buy any in for my own horses, I’ll make sure I keep enough for them 😏
 
Well we've cut over 1000 acres of first cut all for hay or haylage for the equine market and although we've had some good yields, on the whole yields are below average. The second cuts we've done are very very light and the later cut first cut land just isn't growing.

That coupled with no carry over stocks from last year, and the fact that grazing grass isn't growing so people are using forage intended for winter now, mean that hay/haylage is not going to be in plentiful supply this Winter.
 
Their is a lot of panic buying going on round here. No price rises yet.

I've decided to clear out one of the sheds and stick 3 or 4 round bales in there. Trouble is, if we have another Winter like the last, I'll be lucky if they last a month.

It is very worrying.
 
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