Is anyone else worried?

[Dizzleton]

I can't be the only one worried about this coming winter and hay/haylage/straw etc?

I still have my horse in overnight and it's nearly May. The supplies of forage are getting extremely low on our little Island, with many people desperate for anything. My supplier has now ran out of all his stock, so I'm using Horsehage to feed him overnight. We have green grass, but it has no length

With very little growth in the fields, do you think there will be a shortage for winter 2013?

 

[mandwhy]

I don't think so, people say this kind of thing every year it seems. Maybe I am lucky living in an area of lots of arable land, but people were panicking last year about hay costing loads due to the wet and there was plenty around. I am not too bothered about calorie content though, the lower the better for my two.

Plenty of growth on our fields too!

 

[jendie]

I worry constantly, so yes I'm worrying about this. I'm planning to stock up as early as I can. Our grass is only just beginning to grow....I can see a few daisies. Ours are still in at night but I'm hoping to get them out next week. I'm sure I'll be supplementing with hay for a few weeks yet though.

 

[Dizzleton]

I don't think so, people say this kind of thing every year it seems. Maybe I am lucky living in an area of lots of arable land, but people were panicking last year about hay costing loads due to the wet and there was plenty around. I am not too bothered about calorie content though, the lower the better for my two.

Plenty of growth on our fields too!

Luckily last year we had lots of grass in our fields from March onwards so I wasn't too worried, even with the amount of rain we had.
My main concern is that nothing appears to be growing much and with lots of horses packed onto a small Island stock soon runs out.

 

[Crugeran Celt]

I am a little worried and I am still feeding hay as three of mine are still in over night. Saying that we could have a great summer and farmers will be able to get a few cuts in so I live in hope. Grass has only just started to come through here, South West Wales.

 

[navaho]

Its a massive worry, & even those in areas where hay/haylage is still in abundance should be worrying. A lot of farmers are usually getting their first cut of silage in May round here & there is no way that will be happening this year as the grass just isnt growing. People who have usually turned out their cows & horses by now still have them in & are still feeding. I myself havnt stopped feeding hay/haylage since October 2011 & my bank balance is certainly suffering for it.
The biggest worry has to be the lack of hay/haylage that will be cut this year, it will push the prices up again. I just hope we dont have another winter like the last one, i for one will seriously be thinking of giving up & selling all the horses if we do (apart from my retired boy).

 

[Beau jangles]

I'm worried too. We had 2011 Haylage to feed last winter but when that ran out we had to use the 2012 cut which was terrible more like silage had to bin loads as was soaking , horses not wanting to eat it.
Have changed to hay but its costing me a fortune !
Hoping for a dry summer so the farmers can get there cuts done at the proper times this year.
I'm in the west of Scotland and we are used to rain but this last 12 months has been the worst ever, no grass yet either and mine are usually out by now , please weather gods play nice this year !

 

[castella]

Yes me ! I've got 2.5 acres split into 3 paddocks a 10hh and a 13hh in a paddock each and one resting, the resting paddock I was hoping would grow but it has about 2cm grass if that on it so Im still feeding hay and feed to the 13hh but at least not worrying about the 10hh getting fat !

I am hoping the 10hh sells soon and I'm planning on getting another 13/14hh but am worried about the cost of feeding them through another rubbish longgggg winter :-(

 

[hnmisty]

Haven't yet got my horse (arriving within the next two weeks hopefully!) and am already worrying about cost...

I just commented on another thread that I thought I was paying £130 for mon-fri feed and turnout, as that's what I originally asked for the price for. Turns out I will now be paying someone else £2/day for them to feed and turnout weekday AM. So an extra £40 a month I hadn't accounted for. Plus hay and straw aren't included.

Yard I'm leaving charges £36 a week (£156 a month) for DIY including hay and straw, but I don't think much of their turnout. Part livery cost is dependent on what you want them to do.

For those of you who use round bales, how long does one last you? (And how much, and what, are you feeding?). New YM said people take it in turns to buy a new bale.

 

[Follysmum]

My grass looks very short but my lawn has needed cutting 3 times in a week. So, my thought is the greedy beggars are eating it all.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Not at the moment.

I practice what Joseph did

Seven summers on the trot
Were perfect just as Joseph said
Joseph saw that food was gathered
Ready for the years ahead
Seven years of famine followed
Egypt didn't mind a bit

I always have at least one extra year stored in my barn

 

[Polos Mum]

I'm sure it will vary area to area, in sunny Lincs we've had perfect growing weather for 3 weeks now and thefields are unrecognisable, my hay field has turned completely around and I'm now happy we'll get a good crop. Local farms are commenting that crops are really picking up too - so a lot can change in just a few weeks.
I've not got much left in the barn and I ususally have 100 bales at the end of winter- so 3 weeks ago I was worried!

 

[Rebels]

Im not panicky yet, mine have just had their first night out hay less. They have had night turnout all winter. We cut our own hay and this year we've managed to fertilise and muck spread, its looking better than last year so far and last year was a bumper year for us.

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

The worry should be feed prices in general - the famer here has had his crops analysed and they are down by appox TWO THIRDS on normal - feed prices for animals and humans ae going to rocket because not just because of the amount that is harvested but also the quality this year - last year was down by a third

 

[Mike007]

I just knew this was going to be a post about hay. No ,there is absolutely no cause to worry.

 

[weesophz]

my YO is a farmer and hes got other farmers coming to buy his hay as theyve all run out! horses at our yard are all still in aswell, through the grass is slowly coming throught now thankfully. just wish it would heat up a bit!

the thing im worrying about is if we will actually get a summer at all up here, last year it rained pretty consistantly!

 

[sophiebailey]

I feel so fortunate, moved to a wonderful 3 acre field in January and due to amazing drainage and paddock rotation, I haven't fed hay since January and have 3 acres of lush green grass that won't stop growing! Horses had been out 24-7 on restricted grazing since Jan, so I have at least 30 bales of hay stored that I anticipated using that I haven't needed to feed. So for the moment I'm not worried, just feeling very fortunate to have found such great grazing!!

 

[navaho]

Id normally be one of the ones saying your all being silly worrying, but in all honesty i do think there is cause for concern. Even those of you in areas where you havnt suffered too badly should worry, because when the hay starts running out in some areas it will be bought in from where you are, pushing your prices up. Our hay is already being bought in from away, as there isnt much locally.
The thing to remember is its been a long hard winter, its warmed up & the grass is coming through slowly, but now we have another cold snap forecast which will slow it all down again. Crops which usually would have been cut next month wont be, hay & haylage which normally would tide people over to the autumn have already been used. Also there is the worry of having another disastrous summer like last year where the crops were down, on top of that add on another long winter like the last & i would say we are all officially screwed!
What some of you need to also remember its not just horses that are being fed longer, the situation with other animals like cows & sheep isnt much better, a friend of mine has run out of his own hay & silage & is spending over £400 a week buying it for his animals. I spoke to another farmer yesterday & hes got over 1200 sheep & hes said he wont turn a profit this year because of all the extra feed hes had to buy in. I find it all quite worrying tbh.

 

[Nicnac]

No not worrying. Grass is coming through; last year hay was cut really late and we managed to get a second cut.

TBH you can worry all you like; but it's not going to change anything is it?

 

[Rose Folly]

Hnmisty, our 3 horses live out 24/7 but with access to open barns at al time. We find on average that a large round bale of haylage lasts ours 7 days (they get 4 generous nets each per day - i.e. 12 nets x 7 = 84). Hope that helps.

I AM concerned this year. Our helpful local farmer, who supplies our haylage at a very reasonable cost, has now run out of it for this year. We are, very reluctantly as one of the horses has RAO, now on his (nice quality) hay, probably for the next two weeks. BUT the problem lies in the fact that he has not been able to put any of his cattle out. They are roaring through his silage, and he says he will have to put those cattle suitable onto hay. That will mean that he has to cut more hay for his stock, if possible, this summer, leaving less available to be made into haylage.

In a good summer in this part of the world the farmers can often get a third cut of silage. I can't see that happening this year, as they say the first cut may not be until June.

Am lucky in that I have my own land, and a kind neighbour lets our horses graze her little paddock as well, but with 4 liveries I'm going to have to be extremely careful how we proceed. Incidentally, as above I feel what I am charged for haylage is very reasonable (£30 per large round haylage bale, delivered one a week with no delivery charge) but what do any of you pay?

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

Im not over worried just yet. We have had no issue with supply so far this winter. Ours live out 24/7 365days but I have to admit that Im gutted to still be feeding hay at this time of year

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Our hay was cheaper this winter than it was the winter before. I'm lucky because I can buy and store a hundred bales and I still have enough to last another couple of months at least.

So not worried at the moment but I might be if I had limited storage.

 

[DanceswithCows]

Perhaps worrying isn't the right plan of action, but it wouldn't do any harm to consider the issues in your budgeting, and plan around it.

Anyone who thinks crops of anything won't be affected this year is living in cloud cuckoo land. Even if you live in a pocket of good weather, your stuff'll be getting sold to everyone else so don't rely on it.

We usually have a large surplus of forage and sell to horsey folks - 2011/12 we had to turn all our customers away as we needed it ourselves. 2012/13 we've had to buy in. It's not just hay, everything's going to be short, this appalling weather year on year has affected absolutely everything.

 

[Hippona]

No not worrying. Grass is coming through; last year hay was cut really late and we managed to get a second cut.

TBH you can worry all you like; but it's not going to change anything is it?

This....worrying won't change anything.
Winter is over....we've been moaning about mud/snow/ice/dark nights for god knows how long....I'm dammed if I'm going to be looking for things to worry about in advance....

 

[Polos Mum]

Last summer I couldn't give hay away for free to the local hay/straw dealers in Lincs as they had so much they had no storage left - one told me he had 12 arctics full with no barns left to stack it in! (hay was nicely made by small time sheep farmer who just wanted the field short so his sheep could graze)

Best advice for people who worry is find somewhere to store some and buy it off the field in the summer/ or at more sensible prices in the summer. If you can get it for £2.50 a bale off the field even the cost of renting a lock up garage would be worth it if it is another bad winter and it ends up being £4/5 a bale in Jan.

 

[Lady_Dee]

It's not been this winter thats the issues, it's been this Spring - we've not had a spring yet! Was really dry and freezing cold in Scotland for 5 weeks and then, RAIN! And a wee bit of sunshine! All the grass and plants darted up, but there does seem to be a bit of shortage at the moment!

 

[RunToEarth]

No, what is worrying going to do?

Cows are still in at home, silage still lasting and cows won't go out until the grass is there - would possibly be panicing about enough haylage for five horses if my dad had started panicing about forage for 550 dairy cows - he isn't so I think I'm safe. Our paddocks have done extremely well and I don't think we will struggle as much as we first thought about making hay now everything has been topdressed.

 

[zangels]

I am worried and going to have a chat with a local farmer to help find te best solution. We have around 5 and a half acres, we grazed 3 acres over winter and came off it end of march and are hoping to get a cut of haylage from it as we did last year. The problem is the other 2 and half acres that we have split into 3 fields to rotate with electric fence,but each section dosnt seem to sustain them for enough days to Make rotation work. My plan was graze a section for 2 weeks and then move then move to the next so they get grazed for 2 weeks and rested for 4 weeks. After around 5 days though the section they are on is bare. So we're not sure if it would be best to forget getting a cut of haylage and just use it all for grazing or try something else? What do others do to help keep the grass growing? We have a 16.2 and 12h pony on the land so hoped the 5 and a half acres would be plenty but they keep getting out into the ext section when the grass rus out in the one they are in.

 

[Dizzleton]

I know worrying doesn't do anything; but I am very concerned about being able to afford/stock hay to last all winter again as I never thought my horse would be in overnight for all this time (Oct 12 - May 13).

Our Island is only 220.9 sq miles; Arable land: 9%, Permanent crops: 0%, Permanent pastures: 46%. So we don't have a huge amount of land to keep the Islands equines properly fed when crops fail and grass doesn't grow

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

In this country are running around a month to five weeks behind the usual time for sowing etc so cropping of hay will be a little later. This is no real problem, it happens every so often. The main thing is that we get some rain & some sunshine for the crop to grow. Current stocks are bound to be low at the moment as last years crop was poor & with the cold weather we are behind at the moment. I hope that panic buying isn't started by some as it really isn't necessary.