Hay

[SantaVera]

Heard recently that some suppliers are saying hay is going to be very expensive this year. I don't understand this there is abundant grass. Are they just trying to get people to buy up their old hay to free up space, they are citing the cost of fuel and fertilizer as reasons why they think it will be dear.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I really hope not, im 45 a bale as it is

 

[marmalade76]

The costs associated with making it have gone up considerably just like everything else.

 

[Fjord]

If fuel and fertiliser costs have increased, (which they have) then the cost of the hay will increase too.

 

[Jambarissa]

So this year there'll be loads, but the cost of producing it will have gone up so the farmers may want more, but then again if the yields are much greater it might offset the production costs.

To my mind it's still supply and demand, if there's more hay than we need the price will drop. I expect first cut to be a reasonable price since they'll want to free up space for second cut.

 

[Clodagh]

I love the entitled view of some horse owners that farmers should subsidise their hobby.

 

[Glitter's fun]

Making hay is hard, tedious, hot, noisy, sweaty work. You invest in tractors and machinery drive up & down every inch of the field gobbling diesel, first with fertilizer (at double the old price and difficult to obtain), then mowing, then turning (at least twice), then baling, then IF its stayed dry enough you cart in inside , if not you wrap it in plastic that costs about 3.50 per small bale (plus fuel for the wrapper), or you give up and compost it. If you get that far it needs investment in storage space and more man-power and diesel to deliver.

If you want to access cheap hay for the rest of your life the best way is to have a go at making it yourself, then for ever more the hay you buy in will be very cheap indeed.

 

[reynold]

I love the entitled view of some horse owners that farmers should subsidise their hobby.

alongside the view that YO should subsidise their hobby. Livery costs could (should) go up to cover increased feed and other costs.

Former YO who is now a livery who encourages friend/YO to increase livery charge to cover her increased costs, despite that meaning I'd have to pay more for my pony.

 

[Jambarissa]

I didn't read this as entitled. Possibly not well thought out, I've just checked diesel costs on AHDB and red diesel is around £5 a barrel cheaper now than this time last year.

Does driving your tractor round a 100 acre field costs roughly the same regardless of how long /thick the grass is? So you could potentially get twice as much hay for the same amount of diesel? But then would be spending more on bailing/transporting /storing it.

It will come down to supply and demand not the greediness of farmers or buyers. It's a free market.

 

[SantaVera]

Making hay is hard, tedious, hot, noisy, sweaty work. You invest in tractors and machinery drive up & down every inch of the field gobbling diesel, first with fertilizer (at double the old price and difficult to obtain), then mowing, then turning (at least twice), then baling, then IF its stayed dry enough you cart in inside , if not you wrap it in plastic that costs about 3.50 per small bale (plus fuel for the wrapper), or you give up and compost it. If you get that far it needs investment in storage space and more man-power and diesel to deliver.

If you want to access cheap hay for the rest of your life the best way is to have a go at making it yourself, then for ever more the hay you buy in will be very cheap indeed.

We do make our own hay

 

[paddy555]

Making hay is hard, tedious, hot, noisy, sweaty work. You invest in tractors and machinery drive up & down every inch of the field gobbling diesel, first with fertilizer (at double the old price and difficult to obtain), then mowing, then turning (at least twice), then baling, then IF its stayed dry enough you cart in inside , if not you wrap it in plastic that costs about 3.50 per small bale (plus fuel for the wrapper), or you give up and compost it. If you get that far it needs investment in storage space and more man-power and diesel to deliver.

If you want to access cheap hay for the rest of your life the best way is to have a go at making it yourself, then for ever more the hay you buy in will be very cheap indeed.

not strictly true. You have forgotten the heavy prolonged rain on the night before/morning of baling.
Do you still have hay in which case it is back to turning and hoping or do you have to get it baled for cattle? Bang goes your profit on hay.

I didn't read this as entitled. Possibly not well thought out, I've just checked diesel costs on AHDB and red diesel is around £5 a barrel cheaper now than this time last year.

Does driving your tractor round a 100 acre field costs roughly the same regardless of how long /thick the grass is? So you could potentially get twice as much hay for the same amount of diesel? But then would be spending more on bailing/transporting /storing it.

It will come down to supply and demand not the greediness of farmers or buyers. It's a free market.

can I ask if you have ever made hay? both the work of making it and the responsibility of timing the mowing?

I think everyone who has ever questioned the price of hay should go and do the work. Then when you are still unloading small bales at 11pm night after night, living for the next weather forecast, you will have some idea.
I have done all of this and I never, ever, ever query the price of hay. (I happily pay £5 a bale delivered)
I know what total hard work Hay making is.

To my mind it's still supply and demand, if there's more hay than we need the price will drop. I expect first cut to be a reasonable price since they'll want to free up space for second cut.

That works on the basis of anticipating a first and second cut. What if there is a drought? bye bye a good 2nd cut. What if we move into weeks of heavy rain very shortly? not very easy making the first cut. Some will get rained on. What if the current dry weather continues through June? grass stops growing.

 

[Jambarissa]

not strictly true. You have forgotten the heavy prolonged rain on the night before/morning of baling.
Do you still have hay in which case it is back to turning and hoping or do you have to get it baled for cattle? Bang goes your profit on hay.


can I ask if you have ever made hay? both the work of making it and the responsibility of timing the mowing?

I think everyone who has ever questioned the price of hay should go and do the work. Then when you are still unloading small bales at 11pm night after night, living for the next weather forecast, you will have some idea.
I have done all of this and I never, ever, ever query the price of hay. (I happily pay £5 a bale delivered)
I know what total hard work Hay making is.



That works on the basis of anticipating a first and second cut. What if there is a drought? bye bye a good 2nd cut. What if we move into weeks of heavy rain very shortly? not very easy making the first cut. Some will get rained on. What if the current dry weather continues through June? grass stops growing.

No I've never made my own hay, we have contractors who manage ours and take half the cut as payment, probably not the most profitable way of doing it but we've got far too much land.

I haven't said that I think hay is overpriced. Around me it hasn't gone up for years until very recently and
Im not disputing that hay should cost more given the work involved, there is no way farmers earn anyway near minimum wage for the time they put in.

But when it comes to price I'm saying a free market doesn't work like that. It's supply and demand, there may be more hay than can be stored/consumed this year and farmers may be anxious to offload it before the price falls. Or it may be cold and wet from June onwards and prices of first cut will rocket.

It costs what it costs and when buying a horse owners are aware that they need to feed it regardless of cost and should be prepared for that.

 

[Jambarissa]

And funnily enough as a horse owner I'd rather the grass stopped growing at this alarming rate and I had to pay more for hay. Horses health comes first.

 

[spotty_pony]

Heard recently that some suppliers are saying hay is going to be very expensive this year. I don't understand this there is abundant grass. Are they just trying to get people to buy up their old hay to free up space, they are citing the cost of fuel and fertilizer as reasons why they think it will be dear.

They’ve said this every year as long as I’ve owned horses.

 

[Tarragon]

Well, in that very dry summer a few years ago, my supplier of small bales upped their prices, and they have never dropped
However, as it is delivered for free, good quality and my two get through about 1 and a 1/2 bales of hay a week between them, I am happy to pay.