UK weather/grass

[Japanesejazz]

No sign of rain. My 2 are in a fairly big paddock. But the grass is not growing, no rain forecast for the next 10 days. Can’t switch them to their summer paddock as lime has been put down and need rain! I can’t believe I’m going to have to buy hay in July 😒

Currently haying and short feeding the ones we have out twice a day. There is absolutely nothing out in the paddocks and they are blood types- going through as much fodder as mid winter at the moment. Sob.

Its not right is it. Our field is starting to resemble a desert, with more dust than grass. We've had to buy some hay already, and to complicate things there are ominous mutterings about a hay shortage this year as nobody will manage a second cut.

Desperate need of rain - I have just pre-bought all my hay for winter as all the hay guys I know are talking about massive hay shortage. Everyone I know is having to start haying in the field.
And it won't just be hay - I think haulage will be in short supply too unless we have some serious rain (not too much too quickly as that will cause flooding or wash topsoil away )

I am in irritating situation of having masses of grass, as mine usually live in a starvation paddock this time of year. Now though that’s bald but I can’t put them in any other field as there’s way too much grass in those fields . Even strip grazing would result in little barrage balloons . So they come in all day and have hay and hard feed !

Just ordered hay. I dread to think how much hay is going to cost over the winter

My hay for the year is now in my barn . Am lucky as my farmer is a neighbour who looks after his faithful clientele and has already offloaded about 70 per cent of his yield straight into various people’s barns , including 300 bales to me . But he was saying it’s likely there’ll only be one cut , so it’s going to run out early .

Sarahj please do
I have very small sheep and you can’t actually see them in field as grass so high !

I’m loving it!
My lami prone is living out 24/7 (muzzled still) for first time in years! Usually is stabled by day all Spring/Summer/Autumn.

We have taken more hay off the fields than in decades, more than twice the usual volume. We have acres untouched so won’t be feeding hay for ages. Even the Tb’s are chubby. Our fields are green still in the main (East Mids).
Only downside is the hard ground and flies.

We're in South Wales where it's been the driest I believe. Measly 10 minutes of light rain when the storms came on Sunday, if that much. No rain for another 10 days. I dont have any hay but I'll have to buy in last year's as this year's has only just been cut. I've got 5 Welsh cobs (2 under 11h) in a total of 12 acres but there's only the grass they won't eat left!

I’m in NE. And dreading winter I can’t get enough hay or haylage already. My two are eating winter rations of short feed please let a nice slowl drizzle come for about 4 days. , my summer fields are bare and my winter one is not recovering.

Haying the fields in July, who'd have thought!

And once it does rain the grass is going to grow like the clappers and the lami prone ones will be on foot watch, and the rest will probably have spring grass fatty bellies again!

Mine has quite a big paddock to himself as his field companion is on box rest, but there really isn't enough for a growing 2 year old, so I have been giving hay as well.

Only just got a delivery of 2 fresh-off-the-field hay last week - my supplier ran out in April and I had to scour the countryside for bales of hay and managed to get some small bales to tide me over to the first cut.

Here in Lincs, I don't think there is going to be a second cut unless we get a lot of rain over the next month, which just isn't going to happen. After a wet winter, the fields are just dry dust, so that's going to make for a muddy winter again.

I forgot how to worry about grass (having had a three hear break from owning horses) - I remember now!!