[tobytoby]

I know there will be varying qualities within the bales, but i am thinking in stocking up for the winter and have never purchased any before. I have sourced some at £3.50 (this years 1st cut) is this reasonable, i stay in North Ayrshire.

[Castle Farm]

That sounds about 50p a bale to much, but it depends on how good it is.

Everybody is cutting and baleing around here in Mid Wales and it's looking like a very good crop, so I can't see a problem this year.

[wytsend]

don't be held to ransom..... hay will be plentiful particularly cut this week.     Down here in Devon  most people are baling almost double the quantity from last year.   I can buy off the field for 1.50 - 2.00...............OK got to cart it.

[robert waddell]

but that is the problem no use having hay in the field in  Devon when TT is asking in Scotland  some people still have not managed first cut silage and regrowth is very poor  never mind trying to take hay of but this year they will be wrapping a lot more than normal 

[Roxy]

Mad rush going on here now, silage, haylage, and big and small bales of hay being made, now the weather has come good.  But ....the fields are still waterlogged with all the rain we had, so I reckon some will rush it and now dry it properly, and it could come out dusty.
Anyway, waiting with bated breath for my farmer friend to call me.  He has promised me half the small bales off a field he has mown - hopefully 75-100 bales.  I think he will be looking for £3 a bale, which round here is not bad.  Some advertised locally for £4.50.  Sometimes I can drop lucky and collect off the field for £2.50 each.
 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I think it is a fair price if thats delivered (esp if they help you stack it)
Our neighbour is mid way through first cut of silage and tho we are dipping toes in haymaking in next few days the ground may still be too wet to get the main fields cut. So 'up north' theres a lot of places where there will only be one cut not two.
A lot of the hassle is in loading, carting and storing it so off the field prices should be a lot lower. But Im amazed with the price of diesel (even red) and the loss of fertility when you sell the hay/straw that anyone would be making much if any profit at £1.50 a bale, even off the field.
Lets just say ours wouldnt be leaving here for under £3 even off the field, just because of the cost and hard work in getting it. Last year I paid £3.75 delivered for some I bought in.
Down in the south east you can pay up to £7 a small bale atm....:-OOO and that was the same last year.
 

[HappyHippy]

I'm in Lanarkshire and the guy we use for small baled straw and hay (only for emergencies when we need to go and collect some in the car) is charging £5 a bale for hay 
£3.50 is pretty good I'd say 

[sokel]

Cant help with the cost of small bales, we use the big round bales and get through 3 a month all year round and have been paying £22 a bale for the last 3 years.
This year we have the use of a friends land so 2 of the big fields are being cut for hay, we are splitting it with a farmer. He does all the work and we get half the hay 

Have to admit there is a lot more on the fields than what I have seen in the last few years

[robert waddell]

what a variation from £60 a ton to £200 a ton 

[Castle Farm]

Just had a chat to a local farmer. He took 117 more bales of the same field as last year.

Bumper harvest and brilliant weather here for it.

[Roxy]

My hay supplier is charging me £40 ATM for big baled hay - and we are using one a week!!

[dyedinthewool]

Might be twice as much being baled from a field but is it as good a feed value given that 'best made hay is in June when the flower is still in it'.
 
Looking at the fields around here the're mostly 'gone over', Browned off full of docks and probable in the bottom gone yellow with any buttercups gone mildew....
 
If your buying in hay make sure it's not got any of the above get them to open a bale or if you're buying off the field get to go along and see the hay before it's baled or you'll find yourself with fields full of docks next year.
 
We shut our field off about a month later than usual - glad we did - still got the flower in it, but it was begining to go at the bottom.
 
Hopefully ours is being baled tomorrow  - was fit to bale to-day but the guy can't get to us, busy silaging.

[The Mobile Butcher]

I have one field, of hay  (not being sprayed with anything) 2.5 acres.. local farmer has offered me £5 per big round bail and he pays for cutting and bailing?  I should get between 15 - 18 bails.
is this a good price or a poor one ?  I only  have got the one field and I let it grow this year.

[Hermit]

In Shetland last year £6.00 per bale was the going  price. Some folk were selling excess at £4.00 but it was not very good and would not keep. Goodness knows what it is going to be this year.

[ballingall]

You need to remember the area the initial poster is from. £1.50 to £2.00 is totally unrealistic for here. Yes, I live farther north than north Ayrshire, but not much. I would have said that £3.50 a bale is a pretty good price, and I would take that. You might if you shopped around find someone 50p cheaper- but you might not.


Personally I am worried about hay and straw for this year, as we do not have the room to store a lot of hay. My supplier has baled a fair amount of haylage, but he hasn't started on his actual hay yet. For straw, some of the furthest on fields have standing water in them, the rest are miles away from being ready, and are looking short stalked.


Beth