[silver swan]

Boy do I LOVE these forums. They're so much FUN. Back to the point..... This may cheer you all up? A mate of my OH is based in Kent and before Christmas she was paying £8 per small hay bale - if she could find it!!!! She makes her own but was getting low and her horses were going to need more.  Not emailed her recently for current prices.

I'm lucky to keep my Neddy at a farm where the hay is £25 for a big round bale and straw is £12.50. Use shavings as Neddy would eat straw but will need some for my strawbs later. 

Womble, if you were wearing a Barbour, I bet the price would be even more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely love the sofa.

[ambriel]

Actually this thread has reminded me I need to ring and order some more bales.

As with others, this is usually a big bale re-bound into small ones. Can't remember the price but up here the choice is limited.

We tend to use straw for the chickens and hay for the piggies, which only complicates the storage problem.

[Beewyched]

We're 18 miles west of Glasgow 

Last month we paid £3.50 per small, tightish bale - but have been warned the next lot may go up by 50p due to fuel costs 

What's everyone paying for carrots by the way?  I can't get veg from the shops around here for love nor money for my piggies - even Morrissons reckon they have ABSOLUTELY NO WASTE -    I'm paying £2.50 for a string bag at the moment.

 

[robert waddell]

all the supermarkets have waste or past the sell by date it goes to central disposal point they just cannot be arsed with individuals comming to them that is my view unless i am wrong

[Beewyched]

That could explain it Lillian - I did think their marvellous stock control up here sounded too good to be true  is there any way us lowly smallholders access these central disposal points?

[robert waddell]

don't think so
but you could wait for the skip lorry to move it and follow  probably to a land fill site
the forkers would want money for the waste instead of them having to pay to dispose
unless somebody knows a supermarket manager??

[Beewyched]

What a ***** waste  no wonder there's such a food crisis in this world & everything costs so much   

I'm no politician or financial wiz-kid, but this don't make sense to me - at all 

[doganjo]

One of the TV chefs did a programme the other week on supermarket waste - prepared a meal for about 70 out of what they collected I think

[Beewyched]

Missed it - what a shame - could have gone back to local Morrissons the next morning - oh this really makes me 

I've worked in the voluntary sector for over 15 years, with some really vulnerable people - one woman I know was arrested for taking meat out of a M&S skip (sited on a public pavement) that was a day out of date & heading for landfill - arggh!!!

[ambriel]

Part of the problem with supermarkets and skipping out of date products is that they're scared of being sued if someone takes something and makes themselves ill.

The way UK legislation works they (the supermarket) would probably be found liable for *not* preventing the person gaining access to it.

It's similar to if you cement broken glass along the top of your boundary wall and a burglar cuts themselves trying to gain access.

[Beewyched]

The world's gone mad  - stop I wanna get off !

[Blonde]

getting back to the bles of hay and straw......straw per small bales is $8 aus.   Hay per small bales  is $12 aus. a roll is $45  aus, and Lucern hey is $15 aus

[Beewyched]

Aargh! Just realised we've paid £4.25 per bale this month 

[ambriel]

Advert in the Northern Times this week: 10 bales of top quality oat straw. £20 per bale.

I'm assuming these are the big round bales.

[SallyintNorth]

We've just managed to get a load of 30 big round bales, really nice barley straw, not chopped too short, at £25/bale.  Bought at Carlisle mart last Monday.  I think that may indicate that prices of straw are easing a bit - thank goodness!