Hay prices - lack of feed causes problems for German farmers

For the third consecutive year, there is a shortage of roughage in Germany. In addition, hay prices this year show particularly large variations across federal states. In September, the price of hay increased in the same number of federal states as the price drop was recorded. In Lower Saxony and Bavaria in particular, prices have fallen somewhat. The reason for this was probably the rainfall in August and September. According to research by the chambers of agriculture, the federal average hay price has dropped by less than EUR 2 to EUR 136 per tonne of large bale. It is worth noting that the price of hay has increased in four federal states and prices have also fallen in four. In other regions, hay prices remained stable. Data from Thuringia brought news of a collapse in prices, which fell from EUR 143 to just EUR 80 between August and September. A decline which is in fact not common in this dimension - and is difficult to understand - in a federal state where it was very dry and ...