You are here: Home / Articles / Equestrian Life
H&H exclusive: floods bring fears of hay shortages
August 1, 2007
The acute flooding means there could be hay shortages and price hikes this winter
The National Farmers Union (NFU) has described 2007 as a “disaster zone”. Haymaking is “non-existent” and few have taken a first cut of haylage.
- In the south-west, straw is a “major issue”
- One west Midlands farmer could lose £37,000 worth of hay
- In the north-east, wheat and barley quality is so poor that it is not worth harvesting
- Contamination fears about flooded grazing mean costly reseeding will be needed
Clare Lockyer, technical manager for Spillers Horse Feeds , expects a clearer idea of the scale of the problem by mid-August.
“The most pressing concern is the non-harvest of hay. Some shrewd farmers managed to take some good early hay and haylage crops during the end of May and first week of June before the rains set in, but elsewhere the fields are still full of grass,” she says.
“Grass has now grown stemmy and has seeded, which means a coarser crop of a very low nutritional value and of variable quality.”
Read H&H’s exclusive news feature on the impact of the floods, plus insights into how racing, eventing and competitors have been financially hit in tomorrow’s Horse & Hound (2 August 2007)
Related articles:
- New haylage on the market for laminitic prone horses
- Online feed company is back in business
- Hay and straw prices still high, say horse owners
- Hunts nationwide get creative to beat the credit crunch
- New truck designed to make moving hay around easier
- New "easy to manage" haylage range HaySoft launched
- Raceday to benefit the Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre
- Hayley Turner breaks ankle in an accident at Bath
- New feeding system launched by Eezhay
- Edible horse, 18-hands high, at Ebor festival
Subscribe to Horse & Hound and Save
Enjoy all the latest equestrian news and competition reports delivered straight to your door every week.
Click here to subscribe now