Are there any horse owners out there, 79340, who need to buy hay for the winter?? Perhaps we could club together and buy a full load from an 'authorised dealer' and split it up after purchase...much cheaper that way!

i dont know why you would buy from a dealer instead of yourlocal farmer .there is no shrtage of hay this year ,most farmers have had massive yeilds and so it is easy to find excellent quality hay at a good price

Hay is going to be sold pretty cheap this year, there is so much of it around

Obviously the economies of scale of single load deliveries is hard for some people to comprehend!

Thanks for the advice?!

There is a lot of hay around and prices are tumbling because many have not sold last years either. You will find that some people will deliver the quantity you need.
My field this year gave 160 small bales - last year we had 90. My local farmer stored 20 rolls for me last year, we pick one up each fortnight, we have still not used the 20 we reserved last year and he has a barn full despite feeding his cows.
Dont worry too much this year about hay shortages - there wont be any.

I am planning for next year.

Only organic, ragwort free hay will do for my girls! My nickname for one of our neighbouring farmers is 'Chemical Ali'!