Keeping a Weather Eye on the Hay Market

 

 

As the snow starts to thaw and deer arrive back on the hay fields many farmers are planning their 2022 planting program. 

The steep increase in grain price means many hay farmers will think twice about keeping their fields under grass this year.

Diesel costs have skyrocketed, as have prices for fertilizer, machine parts and labor. Of course these price increases don't just affect hay, they affect grain prices too. Due to the war on Ukraine, a country that supplies 12% of the global output of grain, we will see increased in food costs not just for horses, but for people too.

Any hay reserves from 2021 have long since vanished. Despite the increased hay expenses, horse owners have little choice but to pay the premium rates especially if top quality hay is wanted. If like me you are looking for a new horse or two, it might be well to wait a bit, because the ridiculously high horse price market post the Covid pandemic is a bubble very likely to burst, as sadly people are forced to part with their horses as a result of the increased expenses of ownership.

Ulcer prevention, digestive health in general and overall mental well-being in horses are all significantly impacted if hay is replaced by products that offer less chewing satisfaction and less fiber quality and mass. 

 

At our organic horse hay farm at Willowview Hill Farm, our Catskill hills are already showing signs of Spring grass. The deer are already feasting on our crop. It's funny they go almost nowhere else in the valley to graze. I believe the organic nature of our fields is the reason why. Of course this means sharing our crop production with many 'Bambis'. Cute as they are, my husband worked out the amount of hay that one deer consumes at one point. It was a depressingly large amount from the perspective of hay income to the farm. 

 

But live and let live I suppose. I am already used to sharing any trees I plant and any shrubs or flowers I dig in to the garden with deer, voles and rabbits.

So the question becomes, should we continue to harvest hay or turn to other forage production. Especially as we have recently retired from horse breeding and simply don't need as much hay supply for our own horses. The amount of overage we sell has increased as a result, but baling small bales is a tremendous amount of work especially for my husband and myself to handle alone. 

One field of hay would easily suffice for our horses' needs. And frankly having more room to ride in the indoor arena instead of having to stack and store hay would be great.

It takes us a solid month of daily work to complete the first cut, and another 3 weeks to complete the 2nd cut. That does not account for the time it then takes to load and sell hay out of the barn throughout the year or service the equipment. Vacations, other income producing jobs such as clinic giving and horse training have to take a back seat when hay season rolls around. And you never know exactly when you'll be able to get busy on the fields so making plans to get other activities done is always a challenge.

 

 

Of course once the hay is harvested the grass fields are perfect for riding. Cantering around the outside of a field is less enticing than galloping over it. Once the grass is turned under, rocks will appear across the ground surface and if we ever want to return to hay cover then the rocks will have to be painstakingly picked up. The memory of that laborious task still lingers from 20+ years ago.

It's all fodder to ponder. 

In the U.K. fertilizer prices are up to 1300 UKL per ton. Similar increases are expected here in the U.S.A. Farmers across the country are turning to 'liquid gold' to fertilize i.e. cow manure. However, as hay farmers know, cow manure means weeds in the hay. At our farm we use horse manure to recycle and help re-balance the nutrients within the soil, along with organic mineral products such as lime.

The price of all hay will certainly increase again this year. Costs for production are ridiculously high. Horse owners are left with little choice than to pay up if they want first class hay that has been properly cured and managed.

Turns around the field don't come cheap with diesel prices at an all time high. To cure hay takes several rounds of work. The initial cut, a minimum of 3 turns between tedding and windrows and then the baling round. 

So my advice to all horse owners out there or barn managers that have to stock up for their clients' horses needs is to plan ahead. 

For boarding barn operators the hay budget won't go as far this year so boarding barns should think about increasing boarding rates now to cover the extra costs.

Sidebar: Here is a link confirming the above hay prices (focused on alfalfa production) from the USDA