why is hay so expensive now

Every time a farmer takes a hay crop off a field and sells it away from his own animals he is using up fertility from the land, which can only be replaced by fertilising the land either with chemical fertilisers (based on oil, massively up in cost) or animal manure, animals fed on grain (Massively up in cost) or silage from the farm (removing fertility from other fields).

Added to that, yields down massively, alternative feed prices up massively, and diesel and even bale twine and haylage wrap prices up massively. Thats if they dont have to pay for a new shed to store the damn stuff due to the snow bringing down the roof of the last one.

Farmers job is not to subsidise horset peoples hobby, it is to make a living. Horse owners are the fussiest customers and buy the most fiddly amounts. Horse owners are competing with every other user of agricultural ouput, both for hay and straw and we better get used to it because with climate and also the growing demand for biofuels, power stations burning straw, emerging countries eating more meat and more animals having to be raised to meat that, added to an exploding population, we aint seen nothing yet!

One thing to bear in mind, some farmers small bales are maybe 25kg and then some horse owners moan they are too heavy to carry. They then make them 15kg and the horse owner is happy! With that kind of logic its little wonder a few decide to test the market and see what it will bear. Its just supply and demand, if noone will pay these prices then they wont charge them, but nor will they make hay when they can make the same money with less hassle making silage or grazing beef cattle or growing biofuels.
 
In Sept 2009 I moved to a livery yard, having kept my horses at home all my life. I pay £32 a week for DIY and this includes ad-lib hay and straw. OK, its on a farm and they make their own hay/straw but I am still careful with it. My chap eats ALL his hay each night and then starts on his straw, which is generally not that tasty as I am very frugal with it when mucking out, and only ditch the really soiled stuff. I guess this is a habit born of a lifetime of sourcing hay/bedding and having a muck heap to dispose of.

It breaks my heart to see the amount of hay wasted on the muck heap and in the fields. OK, my chap is a hoover and anything edible doesn't stand a chance, but I got a lecture a couple of weeks ago from another livery who told me that we should be trying to conserve hay and not waste it. My lad would have had a field day with the leftover hay in her horses field that night!

An alternative to hay for my mini shetland who my sister now has is HI-Fi Lite. He has lived on that for the last 2 years as he cannot cope with the haylege she gives hers, and there are cheaper alternatives to this (we tried but he wouldn't eat them) made by Countrywide for one.
 
I can't believe he bedded the cattle down on hay!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We too are paying more. Thats just the way it is now I'm afraid and it's something we all should get used to.

It will make us think about waste more and I think it will be a good thing... less fat horses maybe?
 
Years ago when Hay was short we use to feed Barley Straw. The field ponies had 2-1 straw to hay and the stabled ponies and horses had 50/50

I have a horse that is in a small corral due to having done a suspensory ligament and he is having a large hay net twice a day anything he wastes on the floor goes out to the gang in the field (No waste)

I also give the whole lot a bucket full of redigrass each at lunch time. Much cheaper than hay.

I am paying £3.50 a bale for small bales, but as my farmer said the other day he is keeping it down because he wants to keep his regular customers. He is not selling any other than to his regular clients (I have been with him for 20 years.

I do believe horse owners do feed far too much.There are a lot of fat horses around.
 
The reason hay is more expensive this year is because we had a very hot dry summer. The grass didnt get anough rain to grow properly, and went to seed early, so everybodies yields where down, sometimes by as much as a half. Some were lucky to get a second cut in october, but that was mainly sillage, (something i don't ever remember seeing before).

I understand the shock of what seems like a huge price hike, but hay has been the
same price for a very long time so even if we have a better growing season this summer, dont expect the price to go back to what it was.

Warning a small rant----
Do some people actually beleive that it costs nothing to make hay?? Try setting it up yourselves, figure out how many acres you will need for the amount of bales you use a year, stop all grazing on it from about feb/march, fertalise it, unless it's meadow hay. Now pray for anough rain and anough sun to make it grow.
It's now june/ July, has it grown, what does it look like? is it lovely long lush grass? or is it brown and full of weed?
Lets hope it is the first otherwise you are in deep poop arent you.
Ok now you have to think about getting it cut, mmm, do you have a tracter and mower, err no, so you have to find someone to cut it for you, turn it, turn it again, and then bale it, so ... a man, a tracter and mower, then a man a tracter and a turner twice, then a man a tracter and a baler. Hopeing all the time it does'nt rain in the mean time, if it does..... in the poop again. Then find somewhere to store all your lovely free(yeh right) hay.
Now do your sums, how much has this all cost you in money and time, don't forget to add in how much rent or to buy it has cost either for the extra field, for the hay or to move the horses to another field.

And another thing, most farmers now want to make big bales for themselves as it is less work for them to shift than small bales, so any still making small bales are doing it for the equine market, for all us puny girlies who don't drive a tracter, so be bl00dy gratefull!!
 
Fii said:
The reason hay is more expensive this year is because we had a very hot dry summer. The grass didnt get anough rain to grow properly, and went to seed early, so everybodies yields where down, sometimes by as much as a half. Some were lucky to get a second cut in october, but that was mainly sillage, (something i don't ever remember seeing before).

I understand the shock of what seems like a huge price hike, but hay has been the
same price for a very long time so even if we have a better growing season this summer, dont expect the price to go back to what it was.

Warning a small rant----
Do some people actually beleive that it costs nothing to make hay?? Try setting it up yourselves, figure out how many acres you will need for the amount of bales you use a year, stop all grazing on it from about feb/march, fertalise it, unless it's meadow hay. Now pray for anough rain and anough sun to make it grow.
It's now june/ July, has it grown, what does it look like? is it lovely long lush grass? or is it brown and full of weed?
Lets hope it is the first otherwise you are in deep poop arent you.
Ok now you have to think about getting it cut, mmm, do you have a tracter and mower, err no, so you have to find someone to cut it for you, turn it, turn it again, and then bale it, so ... a man, a tracter and mower, then a man a tracter and a turner twice, then a man a tracter and a baler. Hopeing all the time it does'nt rain in the mean time, if it does..... in the poop again. Then find somewhere to store all your lovely free(yeh right) hay.
Now do your sums, how much has this all cost you in money and time, don't forget to add in how much rent or to buy it has cost either for the extra field, for the hay or to move the horses to another field.

And another thing, most farmers now want to make big bales for themselves as it is less work for them to shift than small bales, so any still making small bales are doing it for the equine market, for all us puny girlies who don't drive a tracter, so be bl00dy gratefull!!
Click to expand...

Forgot to add, the cost of harrowing and rolling at the begining :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top