How much is this years hay?

Depends where you are...we've just put 120 bales in our barn here in Suffolk. Have 40 bales on the field, which we'll sell for £2/bale. Very good quality meadow hay with seed heads still on. Fortunately, this year's crop is vastly superior to last year's very poor crop.
 
There is a huge abundance of hay round here and standing grass even in my fields which normally dont grow any so it is £2 per small bale here off the field
 
Interesting to read this, I saw a field cut for hay this week and thought that hopefully it'll be a good crop year :)
 
We were until last week paying £3 a bale for last years hay. Boyo's owners fields are being cut atm so hopefully no more paying out. Would love to find a supplier for £2 a bale!
 
tankgirl1 said:
We were until last week paying £3 a bale for last years hay. Boyo's owners fields are being cut atm so hopefully no more paying out. Would love to find a supplier for £2 a bale!
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Oh dear - sorry to upset you, but I've just cleared out my barn of last year's hay @ £1/bale. Although it was good hay, my old mare refused to eat it - other horses did not have the same problem I'm told!! She's just toooo precious for words!
 
Omg! You lucky lot paying £2 or less a bale. My supplier is talking of putting his up from £4 to £5 a bale. Not good news with 4/5 mouths to feed.
 
I have had mine cut today, last year I got 140 small bales, this year it wasn't even worth doing, I may get 40 if lucky, not sure what went wrong, the wetter sides near the Reans are good but the middle is shocking. Hope others have had more luck !
 
Mine is not cut yet for haylage but looking at it, it's a lot less thick than last year despite fertilizer. Last year I got 92 bales, I reckon I'll be lucky to get 50 this year.
 
Here in Lincs the other issue is when it's cut, this weeks been the first to have a good run of dry warm weather but there is lots of this years have been for sale for a good few weeks and lots that was cut on the field in pouring rain (farmers have to get hay done before harvest - they don't have the luxury of making it later on if the weather isn't great)
Around here there will be a lot of dusty/ mould hay for sale come winter, sometimes it's cheap for a reason!!

With the cost of fertiliser, weedkiller, red diesel, string not to mention the field out of action for 5 months and the time to make it over 4/5 days - if it's £2 a bale someones scrimping somewhere!!
 
I just sold some off the field at £2.50/small bale and was turning people away. It is lovely stuff and probably cost me pretty much that to make, so I have managed to find storage for more than half of it and will sell it out of the barn later on for more.
Low yields are because of the late cold spring and is why the costs were so high - the cost to mow turn and row up are just the same whether you get 100 bales per acre or just 20. There has been a lot made in this good weather but I still don't think there will be a surplus because of the late spring and people still feeding into late May.
 
The current dry spell has brought on a flurry of hay / haylage making around us. Everywhere I go there are tractors, freshly cut fields, fields full of wrapped bales. Last year most hay/haylage was made during a 5 day reasonably dry window in early September. This year it's being made in lovely hot dry conditions - not a drop fallen since cutting.

We have an additional 4 acres of grazing this year, so I'm hoping our hay consumption will be very much reduced from last year anyway, as the ponies will hopefully live out this winter - we had to stable them overnight last winter as everywhere was just sooooo wet and we had no grass whatsoever.

Still got a good stack of hay in the barn and at the current rate of us (one small bale a week) we won't be buying for some time yet. Last year I paid £3.50 for small bales delivered, about £35 for a 4ft round delivered.
 
JillA said:
Low yields are because of the late cold spring and is why the costs were so high - the cost to mow turn and row up are just the same whether you get 100 bales per acre or just 20. There has been a lot made in this good weather but I still don't think there will be a surplus because of the late spring and people still feeding into late May.
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i agree and also in this area the hay is being cut earlier so there is not second growth/thickness to the grass, another reason for low yields-this years hay will on the whole be very good but not much of it
 
I'm literally counting the seconds til we can buy locally supplied hay and haylage. There's been nothing for a long time and we're currently paying £7 a bale for hay brought up from England!!!
 
blackandwhite said:
I'm literally counting the seconds til we can buy locally supplied hay and haylage. There's been nothing for a long time and we're currently paying £7 a bale for hay brought up from England!!!
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the way things are going you will get all last years rubbish at an inflated price cos there wont be enough good stuff to spare
 
I am just about to bale mine now..The yield looks like it is going to double this year..Got 301 bales last year and it looks like we will double that (off 5 acres)..I will keep half and will try to sell the other half off the field for £3 a bale..
 
We are still selling last years hay at £3 a bale and just about to get in this years which is £2.50 off the field (ie you collect yourself) or it will be £4 a bale once it has been stored. Think this is pretty fair price considering the work that goes into each bale. :)
 
Wow- it's advertised at £5-6 in Essex or £4 off the field! We're selling to a supplier at £3.50 a bale.
 
Last year I lost my complete hay crop. The whole lot. :( the winter was long & very expensive :(
This year I have had a brilliant yield probably about 600 bales. The farmer took half so I have about 300.
So other than haylage for the skinny one I should be ok.
A small amount is a bit stalky & rough but I think steaming it will make it fine for the pony. The rest is absolutely lovely :)
 
....& actually I can agree with the OP I'm also in Suffolk & already local advertising boards are flooded with 'hay for sale' posts.
 
I am in Cambs on the flood plain. The grass is some parts is over a three feet high and they cut two fields at the beginning of June which is almost a foot high so there should be a second cut. They have even cut water meadows that I have never seen cut in 25 years for hay.
Around here everything is expensive but I am going to collect some off the field at £2.50
 
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