No hay!

Plenty of hay in NW and same price as last year but I'm sure there'll come a point where its worth shipping it down south then price will rocket.

My yard has enough home grown haylage to cover everyone but my 3 are on hay, I guess I'll mix straw and haylage if needed.
 
My hay supplier only has 10kg bagged hay now, for £6.50 a bag. It's flipping rubbish too (full of moss) - I'm throwing loads away. I can't be buying any more of that but I can't find anyone local who has hay to spare. I've spent a fair bit of time online trying to find a merchant who can deliver small bales to Yorkshire. Not a great deal of success so far!
 
Hackback said:
My hay supplier only has 10kg bagged hay now, for £6.50 a bag. It's flipping rubbish too (full of moss) - I'm throwing loads away. I can't be buying any more of that but I can't find anyone local who has hay to spare. I've spent a fair bit of time online trying to find a merchant who can deliver small bales to Yorkshire. Not a great deal of success so far!
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Oh dear that’s rubbish! I am lucky ours are out in the field at least. There are no stables.
 
rhino said:
Might be an issue with those too! My feed stockist yesterday said the Baileys Meadow Cobs were out of stock and Baileys had said it would be at least a month until more were expected.
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In the middle of summer someone (professional) posted about hay shortages and suggested supplementing with grass nuts.
I pointed out at the time that if there’s no grass to make hay then we are likely to also have an issue with the supply of grass nuts.
Which reminds me, I need to buy a bag today.
 
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little_critter said:
In the middle of summer someone (professional) posted about hay shortages and suggested supplementing with grass nuts.
I pointed out at the time that is there’s no grass to make hay then we are likely to also have an issue with the supply of grass nuts.
Which reminds me, I need to buy a bag today.
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I read that at the time and agreed. I’d be pretty worried just now if I still had my old lad, who couldn’t eat long stem forage at all and existed solely on hay replacers and cushcare.
 
rhino said:
I read that at the time and agreed. I’d be pretty worried just now if I still had my old lad, who couldn’t eat long stem forage at all and existed solely on hay replacers and cushcare.
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Luckily for me grass nuts are a ‘nice to have’. They have speedibeet and some grass nuts. Hopefully the speedibeet won’t have any supply issues but they are not on any special diets so if push comes to shove I could switch them to something totally different.
 
There was an item on Farming Today recently about British Sugar reducing the price it pays farmers for sugar beet
They had a couple of interviews with farmers who were planning to grow less beet, or none at all, as a result so perhaps sugar beet shortages will be the next thing in a couple of years
 
little_critter said:
In the middle of summer someone (professional) posted about hay shortages and suggested supplementing with grass nuts.
I pointed out at the time that if there’s no grass to make hay then we are likely to also have an issue with the supply of grass nuts.
Which reminds me, I need to buy a bag today.
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The grass nuts are usually made from commercial grass crops, so they may take several cuts in a year. Its also a lot easier to move/ import in bulk.
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little_critter said:
In the middle of summer someone (professional) posted about hay shortages and suggested supplementing with grass nuts.
I pointed out at the time that if there’s no grass to make hay then we are likely to also have an issue with the supply of grass nuts.
Which reminds me, I need to buy a bag today.
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Can't get my head round there being a hay shortage and everyone saying get haylage instead - surely the same applies - and then presumably there will be a haylage shortage too x
 
Dam1 said:
Can't get my head round there being a hay shortage and everyone saying get haylage instead - surely the same applies - and then presumably there will be a haylage shortage too x
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To add - realise this no help at all - just an observation and feel for those who've got yet another horsey dilemma . Horse owning is never easy.
 
hes fat, theres grass to pick at, he doesnt need hay. If the other do then they can do the legwork. I'd supplement with a small fibre feed twice a day and just monitor. I've had horses out on a grass all winter and only had to feed hay when snow is on the ground when they are good doers. Other peoples horses can be their own problem for a bit!
 
I'm Dun said:
hes fat, theres grass to pick at, he doesnt need hay. If the other do then they can do the legwork. I'd supplement with a small fibre feed twice a day and just monitor. I've had horses out on a grass all winter and only had to feed hay when snow is on the ground when they are good doers. Other peoples horses can be their own problem for a bit!
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I am going to chuck my two fatties out on rough and acre of rough grazing once the grass stops growing. Its a balance of eating what is there now to save hay, and then they will get a trash paddock for winter and round straw unless its really wet and windy, when they will have to come in while it stops.
I made the mistake of leaving them in the barn with straw last winter and they never lost any weight, in fact I think they may have put some on.
My other two are delicate flowers, extra food and hay for last six weeks.
 
Dam1 said:
Can't get my head round there being a hay shortage and everyone saying get haylage instead - surely the same applies - and then presumably there will be a haylage shortage too x
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It takes 5 hot days to make hay but only 1-2 days to make haylage so many people have been able to take a late cut of haylage once it started raining and the grass started growing again but the weather hasn't been favourable enough for most to take a second hay cut.
 
marmalade76 said:
Those who have no choice.
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Exactly.
In the summer of 76 when there was no grass, us kids were made to take the ponies and hand graze the sides of tracks, roadside etc for at least an hour at a time.

Friend is fishing hers out daily to feed twice, as others on diy are doing, this is what OPs field companions might well have to do.
 
kaiserchief said:
It takes 5 hot days to make hay but only 1-2 days to make haylage so many people have been able to take a late cut of haylage once it started raining and the grass started growing again but the weather hasn't been favourable enough for most to take a second hay cut.
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This summer we were making hay in 24 hrs, yields were way down. Some of our hayledge is mot much different from 'wrapped' hay nut at least we can store outside. None for sale this year as all needed for our own cattle.
 
Farmer neighbour took a late cut of haylage. He says that it is crap stuff and not fit to feed to horses but desperate cattle owners will take it. He is still very short of hay for his regulars and has told them that he is not sourcing any more for them.
 
rabatsa said:
Farmer neighbour took a late cut of haylage. He says that it is crap stuff and not fit to feed to horses but desperate cattle owners will take it. He is still very short of hay for his regulars and has told them that he is not sourcing any more for them.
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Oh dear that’s not good.
Just as an aside it will stop people over feeding and wasting hay in some cases.
 
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