| Lucerne |  |
| Teff | |
| Eragrostis | |
| Oat Hay | |
Availability and prices are affected by:
- Rainfall
- Time of harvesting and seasonal considerations
- Storage facilities
- Distance from the point of production
South African rainfall is seasonal. Field crops, grasses and clovers, which are often dry land crops, grow according to the seasons, and are much influenced by rainfall.
During the year, there is an optimum time for seasonal reaping to ensure adequate nutritive value, and an optimum time when weather conditions prevail for curing hay, in order to obtain a sweet, palatable feed.
Entire crops from vast areas are harvested within a limited time frame; and as many farmers do not have the storage capacity for their annual production, prices will drop during the harvesting season. Likewise, due to the cost of storage, prices will rise in the winter. This is particularly the case with alfalfa (lucerne) and with oat hay. We urge customers who have the means to order in late summer to bear this in mind, and this ensure stock for their winter needs.
As transport costs make up a large percentage of the delivered cost of hay, we try to source stock as close as possible to the consumer. The practice of bringing hay to a central warehouse is not practical. During handling and transportation grass bales will tend to break, moisture will also be lost due to evaporation which tends to minimise the mass, and make the bales unstable for reloading
When you enquire about the price of hay, please mention your locality, as transport costs make up a considerable percentage of the price.
Long distance road transportation is done by super-link trucks, and because of this means of distribution, our customers are have to buy “a link load”. Where possible we will endeavour to arrange load sharing to assist our customers with their needs.