Hay sources this winter?

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Eceni

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Hi

clearly hay is going to be an issue - that is, all feed and bedding are going to be in shorter supply than usual - but having seen the harvesting in both the south east and the west midlands this last week, I'm wondering how people are doing

anyone care to post availability and current prices in your region of hay, straw, haylage?

just curious (about to buy a new pony and getting serious cold feet )

E
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I spoke to my local horsehage supplier yesterday - they had been expecting a delivery but horsehage said that they hadnt seen anything like it - horse owners everywhere are panic buying!!! Hay and haylage is going to be expensive - but then arent our little beasts always expensive?! There will be enough - once those who are panicking stop buying the rest of us out of hay that is...
 
After much ringing round and worrying, I've got someone holding 10 bales of hay for me ready for collection next weekend, price £2.50 a bale which I don't is too bad, and only 25p more per bale than I normally pay.
Usual place I get my hay from will have theirs ready in september so I'm *hoping* that we'll be OK.
 
My hubby is a Feed Merchant and he has told me the price of feed is going to go through the roof and that was before the floods!! we charge £4.25 for a bale of hay and we only make pennies from it! Straw is £2.75 a bale and 26kg bale of shavings is £5.80.
 
Our horses are on an arable farm and the farmer cuts his own hay and straw. The hay and straw is getting cut and baled as I type. The hay does look as if it is lacking nutrition but i don't think we are going to get a 2nd cut so we will have less hay but don't think it will be a disaster. Our hay is £3 a bale, but the price as not increased since the winter
 
People around us are panicking, and the latest news is that they are paying £5 a bale (small bale) for hay off the field!!! Its also likely that a lot of hay will be second cut, poorer quality, this year ... so things ain't looking good for our purses this winter. Also rumours that if straw is in short supply, the cost of shavings will go up. Oh joy!
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Everywhere is being cut around us as I speak as we have had a run of lovely weather in Essex and farmers are hoping to manage a second cut. The price is likely to be pushed up by people panic buying as they will be stock piling and that will give the illusion of a shortage. I can understand why people do it though.
 
This is why I like my yard, you only have limited space for hay/bedding and it must come from the farmer who owns the yard so no one can panic buy and TBH most people at our yard probs haven't clue about shortages
 
i,m in cornwall , hayledge cut in may is plentiful although not as dry as some years, second cut of haylege is just in and is fine but grass had gone to seed so not as good as usual years but plenty of it and small bale is being carted tomorrow , so no shortages , just a question mark on quality
 
There is always someone who trys to profit from a percieved problem in supply...& more fool the idiots who pay that price.

Some years ago when there was a petrol shortage a garage near me charged about 4x the proper price for fuel....he made a fair amount of money...but it was only short lived...he went out of business as his station was boycotted when the shortages were over.

Lets hope your feed merchant suffers a similar fate....Money Grabbing Ba***rd!
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Local feed merchant (NEwbury) is charging £8 a bale for small bales of hay.....
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WHAT!?!?!
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Seriously! The girl who owns the mare I'm having on loan says she is having to borrow hay from friends ATM as she refuses to pay £8 a bale, and is now starting to feed haylage instead.
 
Everyone round us (north Cambs) is now cutting and there is already lots of hay for sale off the field for £1.50 per bale.

If the farmer will do it instead of the round bales which he prefers I'm having mine baled as small bales this year in the hope of selling some, although I suspect that there is actually going to be plenty around!
 
[ QUOTE ]
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Local feed merchant (NEwbury) is charging £8 a bale for small bales of hay.....
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[/ QUOTE ]

WHAT!?!?!
shocked.gif


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Seriously! The girl who owns the mare I'm having on loan says she is having to borrow hay from friends ATM as she refuses to pay £8 a bale, and is now starting to feed haylage instead.

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The fact that someone would so blatantly try to profit from what is only at this time a potention perceived shortage is pretty low
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I would not pay £8 a bale, given I can get small bale haylage for £4.50!!
 
We've got some hay which is 2 years old but not great quality for £20 for about 30 bales from a friend of a friend who wanted to get rid of it, and we should be able to get big bales of this year's hay for £25. Have heard some people are charging £45 for big bales and £4 for small bales.
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If we can't get enough hay it might be cheaper to feed haylage. If we stay at the livery yard where we are now for the winter they provide the hay and the farmer they get it from has enough for the winter.
 
£2 for hay delivered and stacked, not sure about straw yet but I've just bought 50 bales of last years wheat straw for £25. I don't think there's going to be a problem getting hay here but it won't be quite as good as normal.
 
Being a hay farmer I think that your comments are highly unfair! This is our livelihoods - if we have half our usual crop then it means we have half the money to live from, therefore the price has to go up to accommodate the shortfall in earnings.....in exactly the same way as coffee prices, petrol prices etc go up and down.

My goodness how much money do you think hay farmers actually live on? I'll tell you it isn't much. During years when hay is in abundance, the horse owner reaps the benefits as hay prices sink to lower prices. The farmers income does not change.

This is about economics, not trying to fleece people; so long as the farmer gets the amount needed to live on they are happy and that amount each year tends to be the same figure.
 
We are in the process of getting ours in at the moment (I'm currently hiding!)

We will probably charge £3.50 from the barn. However with labour being £10 per hour, thats what we need to charge to make any money.

However might discount if larger amounts are bought, but not for a few bales or one horsebox load.

Will be interesting to see how much it goes up in Gloucestershire - ours is still first rate hay as we had a lot of timothy that took over from the ryegrass (anyone with 100% ryegrass will have made crap hay)
 
I appricate what you are saying, my boss is also a hay farmer and he needs to cover his costs and profit etc. But I think the poster was critising the chap who was charging £8 per bale for hay and not saying that ALL hay farmers are proffiteering from this situation.

As the poster says, there is usually some unscrupulous types who try to take advantage of shortages but I don't think they meant that every hay farmer (or even most hay farmers) would behave in this way.

It is going to be a tough winter all round I suspect, especially if this F&M thing isn't sorted out quickly.
 
when we all start paying for carbon credits - which has to happen soon - anyone who thinks otherwise needs to read George Monbiot's book 'Heat' - then £8 per bale will seem cheap... so we may as well get used to it

E
 
Got a call today asking if I wanted some organic meadow hay at 1.25 a small bale......errr... yes please! Not sure how good it will be but looks/smells fine. When I arrived to collect she had realised by then how much it was going for around the area (3.50 - 4.00, possibly more) and put it up to 1.50/bale. It's late and not as good as it has been but it will do me fine.
 
Tia, what are you going on about?
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If you read the post you will find that I have issue with a Feed Merchant who is clearly profiteering with selling hay at £8 per bale. I sincerely doubt if he bought it in from the producer at anything like that price. I have just purchases 120 bales of this years crop of meadoe hay, from a farmer at £2 per bale (75% cheaper) & he is happy with the deal.

Are you condoning the profiteering Feed Merchant? If you are I can't see you having any support from any horse owner or Hay Producer on this forum
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Are you selling your hay in Canada at £8 per bale?...I doubt it. Before you attack a post please read it properly
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No mention was made about any farmer profiteering at all...OK
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[ QUOTE ]
Local feed merchant (NEwbury) is charging £8 a bale for small bales of hay.....
crazy.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

WHAT!?!?!
shocked.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Seriously! The girl who owns the mare I'm having on loan says she is having to borrow hay from friends ATM as she refuses to pay £8 a bale, and is now starting to feed haylage instead.

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15 minutes down the A4 in Beenham are selling hay for just under £4 a bale! PM me for more details
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If companies choose to set their prices high and they have people to buy their produce at highly inflated prices then surely that is just plain old market forces in action?

If I wanted to I could sell my hay in the States for $14 at the moment - no I don't choose to do this as I prefer to serve the local economy and no you're right I won't be charging $8 per bale, even though each of our bales stand us in around this amount anyway. We will just take the hit - such is life.
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It is a bit of a concern as this weather has caused havoc all round and i fear the cost of hay this winter is going to be pretty pricey which is not good, lets hope we get good weather and plenty of fabulous second cuts, i know thats optimistic but worth hoping for i say....
 
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