Sandstone1
Well-Known Member
These are my feelings too, Im afraid suppliers are being greedy.
Hay!!!!
- Thread starter Sandstone1
- Start date
These are my feelings too, Im afraid suppliers are being greedy.
Mike007
Well-Known Member
Why is it being greedy to charge what the market will bear. Its called supply and demand.Shop around ,make your own or dont keep horses you cant afford.
Indy
Well-Known Member
Completely agree Mike!
lexiedhb
Well-Known Member
B I N G O.......... when you have worked your butt of in the fields making your own then you can say that the price isnt justified!
Indy
Well-Known Member
Yep agree with ^ that too
jon1210
Well-Known Member
On my yard we manage to get 2 harvests a year of hay we do everything ourselves and we have about 600 in storage in a secret place 
but we do go through 2/3 a day in winter and half of one a day in summer so we should be okay till our next harvest comes in... our hay are the big 4x5ft i think they are im not too sure they are the big cylinder ones which are all good quality so we are all fine i do understand why farmers have put there prices up and to be honest good on them as they make pennies per bale so to finally get maybe 1.50 profit per bale they will be made up and can maybe have an okay year living wise and they wont have to worry about cutting back on stuff.....
but we do go through 2/3 a day in winter and half of one a day in summer so we should be okay till our next harvest comes in... our hay are the big 4x5ft i think they are im not too sure they are the big cylinder ones which are all good quality so we are all fine i do understand why farmers have put there prices up and to be honest good on them as they make pennies per bale so to finally get maybe 1.50 profit per bale they will be made up and can maybe have an okay year living wise and they wont have to worry about cutting back on stuff.....
Tinkerbee
Well-Known Member
This is all very confusing. When did you all last pay what you see as reasonable?
Every year I have been on this forum people have been saying "oh its been a bad year, yields are down, there are shortages, prices are ridiculous..."
Really? Last year it was because it was too wet all the time... this year it was because it was too dry and now too wet... What year did it all go wrong?
Why do some of you feel entitled to cheap feed for your horses?
You need hay. You obviously don't cut your own, so people who do can charge what they can when they have the upper hand.
Rambled a bit
but really...when was there last a good cut? This place is so doom and gloom at times! 
Every year I have been on this forum people have been saying "oh its been a bad year, yields are down, there are shortages, prices are ridiculous..."
Really? Last year it was because it was too wet all the time... this year it was because it was too dry and now too wet... What year did it all go wrong?
Why do some of you feel entitled to cheap feed for your horses?
You need hay. You obviously don't cut your own, so people who do can charge what they can when they have the upper hand.
Rambled a bit
but really...when was there last a good cut? This place is so doom and gloom at times! mon
Well-Known Member
when you compare the price of food human or horse to the price of other things eg fuel, entertainment, farriers, hairdressers then are the essential things dear. most farmers inc myself, would be better off to sell up and live of the asset money.
dozzie
Well-Known Member
Having taken only a third of what i take on an average year and a sixth of the yield in a good year, I know hay is in short supply this year in some areas. It is not a myth. It costs the same amount in diesel to cut and bale. Diesel is expensive at the moment. Farmers have to make a living they are not a charity. I have just bought some in. Panic buying maybe but i would rather be secure in the knowledge i had enough for the winter.
dozzie
Well-Known Member
Or sell it in small bags to pet shops for £3.00 a bag!
If you talk to most farmers hay is on of the trickiest crops to grow. I think most do it to feed their own animals and surplus gets sold. I dont think there are many farmers who grow hay just to supply the horse fraternity!
honeymum
Well-Known Member
If it's any help I know a farmer nr Bridgwater who has small bales of hay for £4.10 a bale or £3.80 each if you buy more than 10.
My mum's been using this guy for ages, so we know it's nice heavy bales and they're good quality.
PM me for details if you need them.
My mum's been using this guy for ages, so we know it's nice heavy bales and they're good quality.
PM me for details if you need them.
mon
Well-Known Member
Agree dozzie our 600 sheep and 100 cattle come first and my 3 horses, then local regular custoers, they might not get all they want def no new customers starting at £30, but likely to rise but gone are the days of cheap food, world over populated and natural disaters are pushing prices up, and farmers are getting realistic with prices
MotherOfChickens
MotherDucker
hear, hear! and no, I'm not a farmer. with the cost of fertiliser so high straw prices have also massively increased so be warned.
Sandstone1
Well-Known Member
Dont presume that I cant afford to keep my horses please you dont know me.
I still say some hay suppliers are being greedy thats my opinion and Im sorry if you dont agree. My animals will be well fed as they always are. Just because I refuse to pay stupid prices does not mean I cant afford my animals.
However there will be people who cant afford rip off prices and i feel sorry for all the animals that will be sold or put down or suffer because of this.
dozzie
Well-Known Member
Go direct to the farmer. You will get a better price than from the middlemen but you may have to collect yourself.Then you win and the farmers win.
Mike007
Well-Known Member
Just so Ive got this straight ,its OK for you to slag farmers off as being greedy and charging stupid prices,because you dont want to pay what they are asking. Yet you take offence that I presume you cant afford the hay.
Gucci_b
Well-Known Member
Well i would say, if you have a chance of getting any hay, then may be buy it, along with horse feed. Am sure most people watch the news and heard about Russia and the wheat crisis due to their drought. You can check the weather for the autumn forecast on this website, and is available by 1st September, the winter forecast is available by 1st December.
http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/twoforecasts/UK seasonal weather forecast.aspx
And
www.metoffice.co.uk
http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/twoforecasts/UK seasonal weather forecast.aspx
And
www.metoffice.co.uk
Rhandir
Well-Known Member
I've got eight round bales off a field that last year had twelve, I'd hoped to get ten. I still have to pay my lovely contractor for mowing, turning, rowing up, baling and wrapping. I'm only too aware that his costs have risen dramatically over the last year and I will have to pay him more. As I'm a bit short of my target I have had to buy some small bales to top up "just in case"
Hay IS in short supply, the cost of making it HAS gone up considererably, it's not exactly rocket science to work out that the price per bale is going to go up.
Hay IS in short supply, the cost of making it HAS gone up considererably, it's not exactly rocket science to work out that the price per bale is going to go up.
Sandstone1
Well-Known Member
Lets get this straight shall we. I am not saying that hay should not go up at all. To go from 3.50 a bale to 7-8 a bale is greedy. Also I know that some suppliers are keeping hay back so they can charge more later. I am not slagging off farmers as you so nicely put it I am just saying whats true.
You presume I cant afford to feed my animals just because I will not fall in to the trap of panic buying and paying stupid prices.
You dont know me or my situation so yes i do take offence at that.
If I could not afford my animals I would not have them.
However there may well be many people who will not be able to afford to feed hay this winter and Im afraid it will become a welfare issue.
Im sure the suppliers wont worry about that.
moses06
Well-Known Member
No YOU need to get things straight here. We have a feild that normally yeilds 300 bales - we got 120 well over 1/2 yeild, diesel has rocketed, wrap has gone up, the cost of living overall has gone up- to make a living to keep a roof over their heads farmers are, quite rightly, charging more, this will have a knock on effect through merchants and suppliers to the end user. They also have to charge more to make up for the shortfall - If you don't like it - hard luck, that's life. Have you noticed the price of bread lately???
IF we have a relativley mild winter, and people don't go mad and waste forage, and IF we have a good crop next year things will ease a little - but I don't think we will go back to the £2.50 a bale days.......cost price per bale is at LEAST £3.50.
As for the welfare angle - this may actually stop some people from overbreeding, and TBH there are many old, decrepid horses being kept alive in this country that need putting down, and the price of forage may just make that decision for some people.
Sussexbythesea
Well-Known Member
A friend of a friend who lives in Mid-sussex and to whom I was chatting to the other day cuts their hay for their own sheep and a few liveries. They told me they only got 78 bales off their field this year - last year they got 1000!!. They have to keep it all for their sheep so their liveries will have to look elsewhere. My livery has just gone up by £20a month to cover the increase.
Hoping the rain will mean a second cut.
Hoping the rain will mean a second cut.
lexiedhb
Well-Known Member
Bert&Maud
Well-Known Member
So lets say, for the sake of argument, that you come back in the next life (let's not get into that debate!!) as a hardworking farmer. One day you have the chance of making a little more money than you normally do, perfectly legally. Are you going to take the opportunity, or say to yourself, no, I must keep the price down to help out the poor horse owners? Hmm, I think the former rather than the latter. That is what business (and farming is a business like any other) is all about, making money out of your assets and commodities. A lot of the time they make no profit at all, so you can't blame them for grasping at the opportunity.
Like anything in short supply, I think we all need to be thinking about reducing waste. How much is on the hay shed floor? and if there's hay left in the net or on the floor in the morning, or trodden into the mud in the field, then you are feeding too much. Horses will pick out every blade if they need to.
Like anything in short supply, I think we all need to be thinking about reducing waste. How much is on the hay shed floor? and if there's hay left in the net or on the floor in the morning, or trodden into the mud in the field, then you are feeding too much. Horses will pick out every blade if they need to.
Sunny08
Well-Known Member
We sell ours at £4 per bale and have been inundated this year, don't think we will take on any new people. Think it is worse up north than down south.
Sunny08
Well-Known Member
P.S. Of course farmers need to make a profit, they work b****y hard all year round and get very little back for it! I know I am married to one!
PurplePickle
Well-Known Member
My normal farmer wasnt in yesterday so i went to my feed merchant, theyve cut 1000 bales which is low and wont sell any bulk amounts for it to last over winter, however its gone up to £4 a bale and probably more later int he year
Sunny08 some from the south are coming up north to buy it, i think it seems to be other way around
Achinghips
Well-Known Member
Well, short suppy or not - everyone will buy (if they possibley can), from the cheapest supplier they can find. Competition in prices won't go away, even if there's an overall hike, esp if horse owners refuse to pay extortionate prices and seek alternatives.
Mitchyden
Well-Known Member
Why is it that farmers think they are the only ones that work hard?
I am not slagging off farmers, and yes they do need to make a profit but as for using the cost of living going up as a reason for extortionate hay prices, that's ridiculous!!
The cost of living has gone up for everybody not just farmers.
As I said before in a previous post, my usual supplier has cut less than 50% of his usual crop but he has only put his prices up to £3.50 because he's not prepared to rip us off!!! He works just as hard as other farmers but would rather play fair by his customers.
And yes, I can afford my horses, I just don't like being ripped off!
I am not slagging off farmers, and yes they do need to make a profit but as for using the cost of living going up as a reason for extortionate hay prices, that's ridiculous!!
The cost of living has gone up for everybody not just farmers.
As I said before in a previous post, my usual supplier has cut less than 50% of his usual crop but he has only put his prices up to £3.50 because he's not prepared to rip us off!!! He works just as hard as other farmers but would rather play fair by his customers.
And yes, I can afford my horses, I just don't like being ripped off!
Achinghips
Well-Known Member
Must say, I breed pedigree cats, if I have 4 in a litter one year, rather than my usual 8, I don't hike up the price to compensate for the lack of cash the smaller litter would generate, even though I breed a rare breed always in short supply, with high demand - such money grabbing is not worth my reputation and would gain me unpopularity - would also affect my own integrity, despite the hike in the cost of living overall.
Sandstone1
Well-Known Member
Thats how I feel, but it seems a lot of people on here dont agree. I have been told not to have horses I cant afford because I think that to double the price is not on.
I wonder how the hay suppliers will feel when next year customers go else where to buy their hay because they have tried to rip people off.
Its not supply and demand, its taking advantage of people who are panic buying.
NOT all farmers are doing this and are playing fair with regular customers etc but the ones that are asking 7-8 a bale just because they can are greedy and thats what annoys me.
Sorry if you dont agree but I am intitled to my opinion.