Making Hay
Every season, farmers are asked to do more with less. Fuel prices climb, electricity bills bite, and every pass of machinery across a paddock costs more than it did the year before. Yet the work doesn’t stop. Hay still has to be grown, cut, dried and stored, because livestock don’t wait for the economy to settle. Behind every bale is a farmer absorbing those rising costs while trying to keep feed affordable for the people who rely on it.
While all our horses rely somewhat on hay, here at Sound Advice we have four horses that receive pretty much all of their calories from hay. Here are Buttercup and Flicka - both on the PPID spectrum. Their forage is exclusively teff hay. We cannot run out, and that’s why we have a keen interest in hay and a huge respect for our local growers.
Forage is the base. Supplements are important, but they are by definition supplementary. Pasture and hay is the foundation on which the whole diet actually stands - the part that matters most when you’re trying to keep a horse healthy, steady and well‑fed. This is why most online feed calculators are flawed in their premise. They balance added feeds and supplements without accuracy on what makes up the bulk of the diet.
Here are other articles we have written about hay:
Buy Hay Direct From the Grower
We always encourage owners to buy direct from the farmer whenever they can. No one knows the hay better than the person who grew it, cut it and baled it. They can tell you exactly what’s in each batch - the species, the stage it was cut at, the weather it cured under, and how it will suit your horse. Many hay farmers are testing their hay and can supply you with that data.
Buying direct is cheaper than going through a middle‑man, and it builds a relationship that matters when the season tightens. When a farmer knows your ongoing needs, they can set bales aside for you, keep you in mind when the next cut comes in, and make sure you’re not left scrambling when everyone else suddenly realises feed is short.
How Hay is Made
Hay isn’t something farmers can produce on demand. It’s tied tightly to the rhythm of the season. Grass and legumes must be seeded at specific times of year, and the crop only grows when temperature, daylight and soil moisture line up. A farmer can’t simply “make more” in winter or during a dry spell. The plants won’t grow, and the quality would be poor even if they tried. Every cut of hay is the product of that season’s rainfall, heat, and timing. When conditions are kind, there’s plenty. When they’re not, supply tightens. That’s why hay availability rises and falls across the year (and so do prices), and why planning ahead, and building relationships with growers matters so much when you’re feeding horses.
A hay crop begins long before anyone sees a windrow. A farmer starts by sowing a grass or legume species that will produce dense, leafy growth. Seed itself is relatively inexpensive - usually between $4–$12/kg depending on species - but the real cost sits in preparing the ground and getting the crop established. A basic seed drill for small to mid‑scale operations runs around $20,000–$40,000, while larger air seeders can exceed $100,000. Most farmers already own their seeding equipment, but depreciation and maintenance are part of the ongoing cost of producing hay.
Once the crop is in, the next expense is nutrition. Hay removes a lot of potassium and nitrogen from the soil, so fertiliser is essential if the paddock is to produce reliably year after year. Urea, MAP and potash are the usual inputs. Prices fluctuate, but in 2026 Australian farmers are typically paying $700–$1,200 per tonne for nitrogen products and $900–$1,400 per tonne for potash. A hay paddock might receive $150–$300 worth of fertiliser per hectare each season, depending on soil tests and yield goals.
Irrigation, where used, is even more expensive: a single centre‑pivot system can cost $150,000–$300,000 to install, and running it can add $40–$120 per megalitre in electricity or diesel. Irrigated hay is more predictable and often higher quality.
As the crop grows, the farmer monitors maturity closely. Hay must be cut at the point where the plant has maximum leaf and minimal stem lignification. Too early and the yield is poor; too late and the hay becomes coarse and low‑value. When the timing is right, the mower goes in. Modern disc mowers cost between $25,000–$60,000, and mower‑conditioners, which crimp the stems to speed drying, can reach $80,000–$120,000. Cutting is the easy part; curing is the gamble. The crop lies in the field for several days, losing moisture until it reaches the safe baling range of 12–18% depending on species. Weather risk is the farmer’s constant worry. A single mistimed shower can bleach colour, leach nutrients or cause mould.
Once the hay has dried enough, the farmer rakes it into windrows. A good rotary rake costs $15,000–$40,000, and its job is to gather the crop neatly so the baler can work efficiently. Raking also fluffs the hay to finish the drying process. Then comes baling, the moment where loose plant material becomes a saleable product. Small square balers cost around $20,000–$40,000; large square balers often exceed $150,000; and round balers sit somewhere in between at $50,000–$90,000. Baling also consumes fuel, twine or net wrap, and labour. Every bale represents the culmination of months of growth and several passes of machinery.
Finally, the hay must be stored. Good storage is essential because moisture, sunlight and ground contact all degrade hay rapidly. Farmers use sheds, tarps, or elevated pallets to keep bales dry. A dedicated hay shed can cost $30,000–$80,000 depending on size. Even with perfect storage, hay slowly loses colour and aroma over time, so most farmers aim to sell or feed it within the season.
This is why the first cuts of hay are cheaper. It's logistics. The first cut bales must be sold to recoup costs and make room in the storage shed for the subsequent cuts, which may begin only a few weeks away.
The final cuts of the season are much more expensive, because that hay must last until the next growing season - six months away. Accordingly, 1st and 2nd cut hay might be $18/bale, and the last hay in the shed might be $38/bale.
From sowing to storage, haymaking is a choreography of timing, weather, machinery and money. When you see a neat stack of bales, you’re looking at seed, fertiliser, fuel, labour, risk management and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment (we didn't even include the costs of purchasing and running at least two - often more tractors) working in sequence to turn sunlight and water into something a horse or cow can eat.
Get to Know Your Grower
When you do go to pick up hay, take a moment to talk to the person who grew it. Ask them about the batch you’re buying, when the next cuts are likely, and what their long‑range forecast looks like. No one reads a season quite like an experienced hay grower. They can tell you what the ongoing supply is likely to be, how the paddocks are tracking, and whether you should be thinking about stocking up early. Those conversations matter. They’re how you get ahead of price rises, secure feed before everyone else realises supply is tightening, and build the kind of relationship that keeps your horses fed when the season turns tough.
We know the cost of hay is rising, but so is everything. For those of us feeding horses hay, it’s worth pausing on that. Every bale in your feed shed represents someone else’s set-up investment, early mornings, fuel bills, weather risks and ongoing machinery costs. The farmer carries all of that so your horse can eat well, stay steady, and stay healthy. A little gratitude for the people who grow our hay acknowledges the hard work, the risk and the rising costs behind the feed our horses depend on.
What’s Missing From Hay?
Most hay, no matter how well grown, is still short on the trace minerals horses rely on for metabolic stability, hoof quality, coat health and thyroid function.
Copper, zinc, iodine and selenium are consistently low in Australian soils in relatively predictable amounts, which means they’re consistently low in the hay made from them. That’s why we use and recommend our Sound Advice Trace Mixes. They supply those four critical trace minerals in the correct ratios, filling the gaps that even excellent hay can’t cover.
(On the other hand, macro minerals - calcium, phosphorous and magnesium are much more variable, and that's why we sell them separately.)
When the foundation of the diet is forage, the smartest thing you can do is make sure that foundation is properly supported, and that’s exactly what our trace mixes are designed to do.
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