Today we bailed our second cutting or orchard grass and it looks very good. Later today I will drill a sample of bales and send it off for analysis at the lab.

If you have read my earlier Blog entries on hay analysis you will see there can be some significant variations from year to year.



Of course the next piece of the puzzle is to try and sell the stuff at a decent price. Prices have been going up and up and the local Grange is now charging $15.95 for a 100lb bale. My horse owning neighbour is buying at $175 per ton. But I have heard of people selling for as low as $130 per ton.

Meanwhile back in the UK more farms are being tested for foot-and-mouth disease after an outbreak at a farm near Guildford.
Defra said other possible cases were being investigated after infected cattle were culled at the Surrey farm where the outbreak started..

A UK-wide ban on the movement of all livestock is in place, and farmers have been asked to "go the extra mile" on bio security and vigilance.

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