[pikilily]

Hi folks...the annual question...
What prices are you paying/going to pay/charging for hay this year. And what area are you in..?

I am in Tayside and have been quoted £5/6 for small square bales... that equates to £50 a big round bale!!!!!

i have now got hay at £25 for a big round bale, delivered. Phew thats better!
Emma T

[plumseverywhere]

£4 small square bale. Lovely hay full of all the stuff goats like     In Worcestershire (nr evesham)

[tizaala]

We have just secured our winters supply from a neighbour and he's letting us have large round bales of beautiful, well made hay for £20, or small bales for £4 . He was lucky and managed to make it in that nice week we had when the Royal Welsh was on, and he will deliver it to us every week as we want it , so I can't grumble at that. Probably going to need about 3 a week for our lot.
Everything is inside today as the weather is dreadful again.

[robert waddell]

it is all relative  to the area you are in the weather in that area and if the farmer can be bothered with the extra work
 straw last year was the same it ended up with round bales going through the square baler to get the extra sales and money
not much point in £2 a bale down south when you are in the north of Scotland and only want 10-20 bales
and also depends on the type of hay goats need meadow hay  sheep require a more grassy hay while horses need course hay
Emma you are lucky that you can accommodate big bales  a lot just have to pay the going rate for small square bales

[pikilily]

Yes Robert, thats exactly my point, and why i am asking...it does depend on the area. But if we all know what the going price is in our region, and what is being quoted in other regions then we can help to keep the prices reasonable by not paying over the odds. 

I know of a few local farmers who have quoted the absolute top price going in the whole of the UK...they use this as a guide, yet when i have challenged that with my own knowledge of local prices they then reduce their rates almost by 40-50%  ....they were just chancing it!!!

I for one am not going to accept paying Edinburgh prices orEnglish/Welsh prices for hay made just up the road, just because the farmer thinks i dont know the difference... by the same token i know that although my sister can buy premium hay for £15 a big bale just up north of aberdeen there is not much point in getting it transported down here to near Dundee.

Also, by touting silly high prices then the 'market' starts a bit of a panic buying which then sends the prices up again.

In my view our collective knowledge can help us...and there is no harm in being aware of what is happening in the market both locally and nationally.
 

Emma T xx

[robert waddell]

ah farmers the biggest bunch of chancers ever  not as bad as potato merchants  though     when the farmer is selling it is never dear enough and when he is buying it is never cheap enough

[pikilily]

haha yes... well we all want the best we can get...and i dont blame the famers for wanting as much for their hay as they can get..BUT...

When one guy i phoned said £6 per small bale..and i laughed and said i could buy best quality small bale haylage for that, he seemed surprised  ... asked a few quesions and then dropped his price to £5 per bale...so for the 100 or so bales I would need that would have been a saving of £100.

Even then with about 10 small bales per big round thats £50 equivelant...I got my 10 big bales for £25..Therefore I have saved £350 by being canny!!  ..and as you said having suitable storage for big bales. (which by the way is just a reclaimed nissan hut)
Emma T xx

[Castle Farm]

Big bale here £25 delivered and they are big, no way you would move them without a tractor.
Small bale £3.
Loads of good hay made this year. The barns around here are bursting with it.

I have about 10 acres still to cut. Very heavy crop, but I now think getting hay is out of the question.

So I did a deal with a local farmer. He takes the lot as silage and wraps it and I get already baled big bales in return.
I geared up last year to big bales.

[FiB]

It seems TOTALLY random to me!!  My old nieghbour who has been farming all his life didnt seem to have a method for working it out - he charged £3 ex field, so we offered ours at £2.5 ex field as we needed to clear most of the surpless in 2 hours - folks came flying out of the woodwork to buy it!  Last year we got £3.5-£3.75 ex field,  but had to bale our biggest field as haylage so only got £20/big bale (equivelant to £2/small bale?).  Our spare stuff that we were able to store Id be hoping for £4 over the winter.  North wales. 3' x 18" bales  The cheapest  way to buy is straight off the field - its certainly worth a bit to us to not have to move it.

[goosepimple]

Hi Emma, we're the same in Scottish Borders £4.50 a small bale and £25 for a big round delivered.

[Lesley Silvester]

Last year I paid £4 a small bale but I dare say it will be up this year.  My farmer only puts prices up by small amounts.

[feldar]

Horsey area here cheapest is about £5.00 small bale dearest so far is £7.00 from agri merchant, we're down in New Forest

[Ladygrey]

Hay round mine is £30 for a 7 foot Heston, however I dont pay anywhere near this amount 

[clydesdaleclopper]

I for one am not going to accept paying Edinburgh prices orEnglish/Welsh prices for hay made just up the road, just because the farmer thinks i dont know the difference... by the same token i know that although my sister can buy premium hay for £15 a big bale just up north of aberdeen there is not much point in getting it transported down here to near Dundee
 
Emma T xx

Any chance you could let me know where she is getting it   

[SteveHants]

Horsey area here cheapest is about £5.00 small bale dearest so far is £7.00 from agri merchant, we're down in New Forest

Blimey - I've seen it for £2.50/small bale up Coombe Bisset way. Last year was a fiver, maybe people are trying it on to see if they can get that again.....