Straw

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:16 am

Small bales will almost certainly get harder to find. I sold my small baler earlier this year as it could not cope with the huge swathes of straw left behind modern combines with 30ft plus headers. It was perfect for hay as the swath size was dictated by me, but after baling I was left in the evening with a field full of bales that then required shifting. I now let a friend bale for me to enable me to start collecting the bales as soon as he starts baling. I have my own flat eight system so I help my friend when he is doing his hay and straw and get my hay baled for free and negotiate the price for straw. This year my efforts got me 350 bales of barley straw for 50p a bale. 1200 bales of hay, baled for 20p a bale.
I feel very lucky after reading some of the posts on this topic, you have my sympathy. I wish there was some way that I could help.

davidw · Post by **davidw** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 10:41 am

Some of the horse people are using chopped rape straw. If you have a few cattle and are using it for bedding only, it may be an option. I believe that its being sold under the tradename of NEDZBED for about £6 a bale.

Duncan MacIntyre · Post by **Duncan MacIntyre** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:10 am

Another alternative to straw is Hemcore or Auduboise, the first being UK and second French made from the core of hemp grown for fibre. It is expensive, similar to NEDZBED if you get it in quantity. However it does go a long way and is very easy to muck out by hand. It is marketed for horses and priced accordingly, but would compete with extremely expensive straw, and much better than non existent straw.

Duncan