new hay, farmer taking the piddle!

[Fairynuff]

Im buying my hay from a new source this year and have been quoted 16 euros for 100ks.Ive ordered it straight off the field but have told farmer that I will expect to pay less as the hay will weigh less once its matured. Hes told me that HIS hay DOESNT weigh less once matured (dried out)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come on guys, what do you think? What would you expect as approx weight loss in a newly baled small bale and one thats been in the hayshed for 4 months? Tia, where are you? M.

 

[Mrs_Wishkabibble]

Hay shouldn't weigh any different once it is baled. If it is heavier when it is baled then to me it means it has been baled too soon so I wouldnt want to be buying it anyway.
Once it is baled if the bales are tightly packed then it cannot surely dry out anymore anyway.
We sells ours cheaper off the field but only as it saves us fetching it in and stacking it all.

 

[zigzag]

^^ What she said

 

[Tia]

Hi Mairi, the hay will lose a slight amount of weight over a 6 month period. I've just asked hubby what amount of weight our bales have lost between harvesting in June to selling in January and he reckons, at most, about 2lbs in every 45lb bale. He says he is happy to go out and weigh them for you if you wish as we have the exact weights written down for when we baled in June last year.

 

[Tia]

It isn't a case of the hay not being dry. When we harvest our hay and take it to the barn, it is weighed. Then it is thrown out of the hay wagons, then it is loaded onto conveyors and then it is stacked on a stack along with thousands of other bales. It sits there for months, often having people walking over it and pulling out bales to look at. Then in winter when we make our deliveries, the hay is handled yet again; it is dragged out of its place in the stack, thrown down to the ground of the barn, loaded into the delivery vehicle and off it goes to have exactly the same thing happen once again to it. No matter how tightly packed a bale may have been when it started, it will always lose some of it's matter and eventually will become a bit lighter than when it first started out.

 

[Fairynuff]

Cheers me dear

. I will take your word on the 2 lbs in every 45lbs bale. Im thinking of buying the big round bales although it will be a hassle to handle. Small bales are becoming a rarity here and are also becoming bad quality

plus they cost more. 16 euro for 100 ks seems a wee bit much to me when the big round bales are selling at 8 euros per 100ks

. Thanks for your offer of hubby

. M.xx