would you sell your hay ?

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mrussell

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Im having a dilemma... I was lucky enough to buy excess hay last summer (I do it most years then struggle to sell off the stuff I dont use the next summer before the new stuff comes in).

Ive worked out Ive got about 140 standard bales over that, assuming all my haylage bales are good, I wont be needing.

I paid a lot for it and it worried me that it wont fetch what I paid if I wait til the end of the Spring to advertise it.

Soooo... question is, would you advertise it now... or wait to be sure that I dont need a few extra bales over and risk making a loss ?

and if so, whats the going price for small bale hay in Suffolk ? No one seems to be selling any so cant compare...
 
It'll be at its highest price-wise, in the early spring before the first cut of hay, as everywhere will have run out, yet horses that come in at night will still need it. By then, you should be sure whether you'll need it or not.
 
A local xc place in Suffolk is selling theirs at £4.00 a bale. I bought all mine for £2.00 and £2.25 a bale but that was from farmers I have got my hay from for years.
 
I would not sell my hay, after the weather we've had and it's not even the end of December yet, there's no way of knowing what's to come. Horse owners and farmers/smallholders have had to use a large chunk of their store of forage already, there will be a shortage.

It will hold it's value & probably increase by Springtime, good hay is so hard to come by at that time of the year.

Also you cannot guarantee that your haylage will all be good.

Your hay is like money in the bank.:)
 
as long as you know you have enough to get you through (jan/feb are supposed to be same/similar to dec!!) i would sell 100 as you should get a very good price for it, and hold back the other 40 just in case.!!
 
ofcourseyoucan said:
as long as you know you have enough to get you through (jan/feb are supposed to be same/similar to dec!!) i would sell 100 as you should get a very good price for it, and hold back the other 40 just in case.!!
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sounds good advice. I'd definately keep some reserve. Who knows what price it will be in 2011? might be anything. But if you definately have a lot spare then as its in short supply now you could offer it for sale and see if anyone wants it.
 
I am in the same position as you:), but we have decided to hang on to our extra bales. Like has been said, its still early in the winter and I have used up more than I would have expected already.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice. I think I will hang on to it for another couple of months to make sure we get through the worst of the winter. My lot only eat the haylage but Ive always filled the little barn up "just incase". I remember a time when we had to burn bales to clear the barn for the next years cut !!

Thanks again everyone x
 
If you have the room to keep it, I would be pretty sure you won't loose any money on it. Remember at the end of last winter people were desperate for hay or haylage, and there's more snow to come.
 
How many horses are you feeding and how many bales are you going through each day. I'd be inclined to hang on to it - you will still be able to sell it in the spring - but you will be feeling really silly if you sell now and get more bad weather and end up running out of feed.

We had a similar situation a few years back - but the other way around - we had a drought and farmers never got their second cut of hay/haylage. Both were in such short supply that all chaff supplies dried up - hay went up to $24 a bale (£12) and we were rationed by the suppliers. The shortage went on right into early summer as no-one had any stock left. It's taken two years to get over the effects of the drought. If I hadn't hung on to my hay I'd have been left without part way through the winter.
 
Evelyn thats a very good point. Being rationed by the suppliers. I've heard of people not being bothered about the price but no-one I know has thought of it being rationed because of short supply. Very good info indeed.
 
Evelyn, we dont feed hay... we only feed haylage. Ive enough bales of haylage (52) to last me 225 days, assuming all bales are good and last 5 days each. Thats enough to go from 1st Jan to mid August. We start the following seasons at the beginning of Sept.

I would therefore think we would need approx 60 bales of hay as a standby and I have approx 100 over and above that.

I really think though that I would be best to sit and wait til March time and see how the haylage has performed.
 
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