Silage / Straw / Hay Price Tracker

Estate fencing.

Member
Livestock Farmer
Had someone view some 120/ 90 x7' long bales hay yesterday . He was thinking its value was about £11 to £13 per bale ...... and its lovely stuff !
I don't mind it stopping in the barn for that .
I think I would be leaving that in the shed at that price. I might even go to the next stow sale myself and buy a couple of hundred bales for next year. I can’t make if for that price using contractors.
 

Hfd Cattle

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Hereford
I think I would be leaving that in the shed at that price. I might even go to the next stow sale myself and buy a couple of hundred bales for next year. I can’t make if for that price using contractors.
Agreed . Don't need to sell it in auction . Only do it cos I have done for the last 35 yrs or so .
Mind you a couple of yrs ago I had some in Nick Champions sale and a viewer came to look at it and said " that won't make £30 a bale ....".......and then proceeded to pay £50 a bale in the auction .......but I don't think that will happen quite the same on Tues or Fri .
 
Wheat straw at Sedge today, delivered in £80 ton.. ( so what £35/45 t ex farm ? )

No demand for silage at all.

Ex farm large bale hay £8 bale.

No demand at all for any other hay ex farm with the exception of one lot of Ryegrass hay @ large square bales at £33 bale.

Small bale wheat delivered £2.20 bale.

Generally very little demand/ bids for anything and certainly trade for what was sold would be down on the last sale a month ago.
😂, £20 per ton is a better estimate for delivery in the south west not £40, are you trying to get some cheep of a neighbour, plenty being sold x farm at £60 ton with a ticket not a guess.
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
Only about 10% clearance of on farm lots I would say. The worst I think I have seen.
Auctioneer nearly gave up trying with some obviously high reserve lots.
and yet, if you averaged out last years prices with this, a quite respectable average, would appear. Our regular supplier, never hit us last year, av under £100 for straw, but is a bit dear this year, which we will live with, there's always another time.
But l do wonder how many heaps of wrapped grass, we will see later on, that will never move, because they didn't meet the 'reserve'.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Yeah that old chesnut, i have heard it all this year from people with fodder to sell. Droughts on the way , awful spring forcast etc etc. It will be what it will be and people will do what they thinks best for them

I was thinking more of less N getting used, but yes, weather has a habit of springing surprises too.

Why give it away below COP, to then replace it with expensively produced stuff?

2019 I made more bales than I ever have, with a huge baling bill to show for it. Obviously everyone else did too, so bales were worth nothing. 2020 I sold the mowing grass off 30ac, thinking I’d get to make a few hay & haylage later. The drought meant my mower never moved. Cleared all the surplus bales outlast winter, at double what they’d have been in 2019.
 

Wesley

Member
hay or straw keeps very well in a barn, and worth keeping, wrapped grass doesn't.
We’ve used bales 4 or 5 years old before & as good as the day they were made. That was square bales wrapped well, stacked properly & not moved. Currently using haylage made in 2020 & its perfectly fine. A stack of leftover bales is as good as money in the bank, there’s always a time when they’re needed. This year might be one of them.
 
We’ve used bales 4 or 5 years old before & as good as the day they were made. That was square bales wrapped well, stacked properly & not moved. Currently using haylage made in 2020 & its perfectly fine. A stack of leftover bales is as good as money in the bank, there’s always a time when they’re needed. This year might be one of them.
I think it’s better than money in the bank the way things are going.
 

Werzle

Member
Location
Midlands
I was thinking more of less N getting used, but yes, weather has a habit of springing surprises too.

Why give it away below COP, to then replace it with expensively produced stuff?

2019 I made more bales than I ever have, with a huge baling bill to show for it. Obviously everyone else did too, so bales were worth nothing. 2020 I sold the mowing grass off 30ac, thinking I’d get to make a few hay & haylage later. The drought meant my mower never moved. Cleared all the surplus bales outlast winter, at double what they’d have been in 2019.
Yeah fair enough if you have stock and usually sell surplus but there is a good many who make and sell fodder because they dont want the hardship of keeping stock. I havent spoken to anybody who is cutting fert on fodder ground to any degree, they are going to stop or cut down on grazing ground because like me they think the ground can stand it for one season so fodder yields will not be hit .
 
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Hfd Cattle

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Hereford
Fodder is usually expensive when the yields are low.
That means the cost of production is higher .....i.e. 7 bales to the acre instead of 10 perhaps but the same making costs per acre .
I've made a decent living over the yrs out of selling fodder and have gone with the averages .....but ....I don't think times are quite the same now ....with fuel at an all time high , fert prices up in the sky etc etc then I think this yr is the one to think about sell or not to sell .
I've had a pretty good season with the Fodder and selling this yr and if I sold no more I wouldn't worry but it doesn't mean I'm going to let it go below what it cost me to produce last yr or more worrying is the cost it might be to produce this yr .

....
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
We’ve used bales 4 or 5 years old before & as good as the day they were made. That was square bales wrapped well, stacked properly & not moved. Currently using haylage made in 2020 & its perfectly fine. A stack of leftover bales is as good as money in the bank, there’s always a time when they’re needed. This year might be one of them.
we put extra wrap on as well, and try to make it as dry as possible, then it does keep. Our contractor is always saying, farmers ask for least wrap, and don't let it dry a bit, result, saggy bales that are difficult to move, and wont last much more than a year, but that's their choice.
We will have a large surplus of fodder this year, for a massive change. Our 'salvation' for the last few years, has been double cropping rye/vetches and maize, with very heavy yields, 30 ton fresh weight per acre, and that rye/vetch has provided the base ration for the winter. We are only just getting back to it ! 10 weeks time, cows should be out.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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