Quick question - about hay, please ?

[Shysmum]

I am changing to a new supplier, and have been quoted £4 per small bale, or £3.60 for "soft hay ". I have never heard of soft hay - does this mean last years ?

I was paying £3 a bale, but want to change supplier. So I guess I'll have to lump it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Spring Feather]

yes normally it is older hay that's classed as soft. Sometimes no year of harvest is mentioned.

 

[Shysmum]

That's brilliant, thank you muchly. x

 

[Polos Mum]

You could just ask them what they mean to be sure, it might just be meadow hay, last years hay I'd expect to be a lot cheaper £2 ish

 

[jenki13]

I am guessing the soft hay is either:
A) a 2nd cut - we got this a couple of years running with our haylage & it was much less stalky as it was younger grass (my "oldie" at the time loved it!)
Or
B) Meadow hay - & there other is a Rye grass hay which is much coarser (I think - trying to remember PC tests ).

 

[hayinamanger]

Mature hay can be good, especially for good doers, but I'd want to try a bale before committing myself to a larger quantity.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

I don't agree that is is old, it is hay made from short and not very stalky hay, it is suitable for calves , foals, and older ponies, but will be fine for adults.

 

[Shysmum]

I'll find out tomorrow and report back..

 

[Spring Feather]

I'll find out tomorrow and report back..

Yes please do :smile3: We own a large hay farm and make thousands of tonnes of hay bales each year so it's always interesting to hear what terms people use, who aren't in the habit of dealing with huge amounts of hay.

 

[touchstone]

I'd class meadow hay as a soft hay, seed hay is a much stalkier hay.

 

[Ridingondreams]

Got nothing to add but omg I'm jealous, our hay is £7!!

 

[Spring Feather]

I'd class meadow hay as a soft hay, seed hay is a much stalkier hay.

Yes and no. Meadow hay is normally a softer and nutritionally lower hay; it is always called "meadow hay" over here. It's generally taken from old grazing pasture fields so there's often just swards in it. Seed hay is generally specifically grown with certain types of grasses and legumes. Seed hay is cut before the heads go to seed so it is far higher in nutritional value. Depending on the grasses and legumes grown it is not necessarily a stalkier or courser hay because it's usually harvested at a more immature age, and earlier than meadow hay :smile3:

Meadow hay is suitable for horses in light to medium work. Seed hay, being higher in nutritional value is usually fed to working competition horses, broodmares, foals and old horses who all require greater nutrition.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Got nothing to add but omg I'm jealous, our hay is £7!!

£5 round here, outside the M25

 

[Pinkvboots]

My hay man offers soft or hard, the soft is like meadow hay and very green and falls apart easy, the hard is like thicker stalky rye grass hay, mine love the soft but I find they munch through it quicker so I buy a bit of both.

 

[doriangrey]

Yes and no. Meadow hay is normally a softer and nutritionally lower hay; it is always called "meadow hay" over here. It's generally taken from old grazing pasture fields so there's often just swards in it. Seed hay is generally specifically grown with certain types of grasses and legumes. Seed hay is cut before the heads go to seed so it is far higher in nutritional value. Depending on the grasses and legumes grown it is not necessarily a stalkier or courser hay because it's usually harvested at a more immature age, and earlier than meadow hay :smile3:

Meadow hay is suitable for horses in light to medium work. Seed hay, being higher in nutritional value is usually fed to working competition horses, broodmares, foals and old horses who all require greater nutrition.

Interesting, seems like the producer and buyer have different interpretations. I must admit as a buyer I thought meadow hay was the softer more grassy type and seed hay would have been stalkier and seedy! Not that I have a choice over here it's all hay! If I do get a choice in future I'll have a more informed idea, thanks SF!

ETA: Holy crud! 7 quid a bale! I'm in Ireland where hay is premium and only pay euro 4.95

 

[Spring Feather]

Interesting, seems like the producer and buyer have different interpretations. I must admit as a buyer I thought meadow hay was the softer more grassy type and seed hay would have been stalkier and seedy! Not that I have a choice over here it's all hay! If I do get a choice in future I'll have a more informed idea, thanks SF!

Don't forget though, we grow different species of grasses and legumes here compared to what you have available to you over there. We have alfalfa and trefoil as our legumes and it's usually seeded in combination with grasses, many I don't believe you grow over there, some of which are tiny little grasses with soft stalks and big fluffier seed heads. I probably talk in more 'technical' terms as we sell to competition and race horse yards so we need to be describing our hay properly as they do all ask. For the regular happy hacker horse owner, they hardly ever ask so I guess they just call it whatever; soft or hard is about as technical as they get :smile3:

 

[doriangrey]

Don't forget though, we grow different species of grasses and legumes here compared to what you have available to you over there. We have alfalfa and trefoil as our legumes and it's usually seeded in combination with grasses, many I don't believe you grow over there, some of which are tiny little grasses with soft stalks and big fluffier seed heads. I probably talk in more 'technical' terms as we sell to competition and race horse yards so we need to be describing our hay properly as they do all ask. For the regular happy hacker horse owner, they hardly ever ask so I guess they just call it whatever; soft or hard is about as technical as they get :smile3:

I must admit I do have an interest in preserved forage (purely amateur) and I'm very jealous at the range you have available/produce. Could not believe that birds foot trefoil is used, and was very intrigued about oaten hay (with the seed heads left on). There's no chance yet of getting that kind of variety in Ireland and I do rely on a local farmer for excellent haylage. For instance, if I want hay I go to my feed store. The previous bales I had from there were clean, sweet smellling long stemmed fibre. Went yesterday and it was a new delivery. The bales are very heavy and look good enough but so far I've noticed there are thistles in (aargh), short fibre but it looks green and good enough (I mix it with the delicious haylage anyway). I would love to have more of a choice but I think that's just me and not the horses

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I don't agree that soft hay is old hay.

When I was doing my training soft hay was considered to be meadow hay
some include:
timothy, orchard grass, bromegrass, wheatgrass, ryegrass, fescue, and bluegrass.


There is:
grass hay, legume hay, and grass-legume mix
The highest nutritional-type hay is legume, but the risks of legume-only hay is bloat, so grass-legume mix hay is the most popular type of hay that many livestock producers use. Grass hay is much better for horses because of the lower energy content as opposed to the legume hay.