As you may have heard on the radio or seen on TV this years hay crop has been very low

This was caused by the lack of rainfall in April, which in a normal year really kick starts the growth - sadly that didn't happen resulting in a poor yield and in many place, no second cut.

As a result prices have increased dramatically and hay merchants are finding it incresaingly difficult to cope with the demands

Clearly we use an awful lot of hay - around 30 BIG bales a week (known as Heston bales) and these have gone up from arounf £60 to nearly £90 with more rises expected as Winter progresses and supplies diminish

It is ESSENTIAL that we find enough hay to ensure that we can feed everyone until the fields are ready for the animals to graze again - late May or sometimes even June, depending on the weather

Fiona has been worried out of her mind as with 50 cows and over 80 horses, finding enough forage has been keeping her awake at night

We have however managed to secure some 28 tons of "emergency supplies" which was delivered today to a local farm, who is kindly letting us store it there until we need to use it (free of charge)

These 67 heston bales were hauled up from the West Country today and have cost us around £6,500 - this is just over 2 weeks worth !!

Hector and Pancake have asked me to set this GoFundme up to see if we can get some of the cost covered by our fantastic supporters over the Christmas period - what a great present for the gang this would be :)

Any amount you can help with towards achieving the target will be hugely appreciated :)

Thank you