Hay has doubled. Here is what really replaces it.
No single feed replaces hay 100 %. Two solutions hold up on nutrition, safety and price. Here they are, with the maximum amounts, four costed rations and the mistakes that send a horse to the vet.
Whichever solution you pick, these three lines do not move.
Three terms, once and for all. Dry matter (DM) is the feed without its water: 10 kg of hay gives 8.7 kg of DM, 10 kg of haylage only 6. UFC is the French energy unit for horses: 1 kg of barley equals 1 UFC. MADC is truly digestible protein, in grams.
Two solutions come out on top because they cover the needs, cost less than hay per tonne of dry matter, and are available this winter. Bagged products are the safest nutritionally but cost 4 to 7 times the price of hay: they are for fragile horses and very small yards, not as the base of a ration.
| # | Solution | Price per tonne of DM | Who for, and on what condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haylage at 55 % DM or more | 150 to 220 EUR | Yards of 6 horses or more, with a telehandler. The bale must be finished within 5 days, the wrap intact, the DM above 55 %. Below that, it is a botulism risk. |
| 2 | Oat straw + dehydrated alfalfa (lucerne), loose | 135 + 250 EUR | Every type of yard. The most robust solution: no machinery, no cold chain. Straw brings the bulk, alfalfa brings the protein and calcium it lacks. |
| 3 | Dehydrated alfalfa on its own | 250 EUR loose, 800 to 1,280 bagged | Thin horses, broodmares, veterans. 30 to 50 % of the forage according to the IFCE. Pellets must always be soaked. |
| 4 | Sugar beet pulp | 850 to 900 EUR bagged | Energy without starch: veterans, laminitic horses. Around 1 kg as fed per day according to the IFCE. Unavailable loose since the summer; soaking compulsory. |
| 5 | Grass cobs, compressed hay in bags | 900 to 1,850 EUR | Horses with poor teeth, asthmatic horses, or as a stopgap. Nutritionally faultless, but not an economical base: it is 4 to 7 times the price of hay. |
| 6 | Bagged chopped fibre | 960 to 1,690 EUR | Partial replacement, individual rations easy to weigh. Prefer the molasses-free versions. Long fibre alongside remains essential: chopped fibre is eaten three times faster. |
Five boxes to tick, thirty seconds. The answer takes account of what you actually own: without a bale grab, haylage is not for you; without ten minutes per horse per day, nothing that needs soaking will last. The ranking is worked out from the table above, then an equine expert writes you the steps to follow.
The rest does not make a base ration, which is why those options are not detailed here: soya hulls are unobtainable in small quantities, fodder beet and carrots bring no fibre, brewers' grains only make sense next door to a brewery, wheat bran unbalances calcium and phosphorus, and grass silage is on the IFCE list of feeds to avoid. As for potatoes, ammonia-treated straw, sorghum and lawn clippings: toxicity, prohibition, or no equine data at all.
Three figures sum it up: 1 kg of hay is replaced by 1.2 kg of straw, 0.85 kg of dehydrated alfalfa or 1.55 kg of haylage (University of Florida). Straw brings bulk and chewing time, and almost nothing else. Alfalfa brings protein and calcium. Beet pulp brings energy without starch. It is the combination that rebuilds a hay ration, never one of the three alone.
The maximum shares below are those of the French institute IFCE, fact sheet of 1 October 2026, where it gives one. Nutritional values come from the INRAE-CIRAD-AFZ tables. Amounts are for a 500 kg adult horse in light work.
| Feed | UFC / kg DM | MADC (g) | 1 kg of hay = | Maximum per day | Share of forage | The risk, and what to do |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meadow hay (reference) | 0.46–0.69 | 40–80 | 1 kg | 8 to 10 kg | 100 % | Dust and mould. Soak for 15 to 30 minutes if dusty. |
| Haylage 55–70 % DM | 0.60–0.75 | 50–90 | 1.55 kg as fed | 12 to 15 kg as fed | 100 % — the IFCE calls it the option to favour | Botulism if DM drops below 50 % or the wrap is pierced. Finish the bale within 3 to 5 days. |
| Oat straw | 0.30–0.36 | 0–5 | 1.2 kg | 2 to 4 kg; IFCE: 6 kg as fed at most for 550 kg | 30 % at most (IFCE) | Impaction colic, ulcers if it is the only forage. Water at all times, plus a protein feed and a mineral supplement. Barley straw can irritate. |
| Dehydrated alfalfa | 0.63 | 107 | 0.85 kg | 3 to 5 kg | 30 to 50 % (IFCE) | Choke if pellets are fed dry: soak for 15 to 30 minutes. Excess calcium in foals. |
| Dehydrated sugar beet pulp | 0.87 | 28 | 0.7 kg dry | IFCE: around 1 kg as fed per day | 30 % at most | Choke if fed dry. Soak: 1 volume to 2 or 3 volumes of water, 2 h for pellets. Discard after 12 to 24 h. |
| Grass cobs, compressed hay | 0.55–0.65 | 60–75 | 1 kg | 7.5 kg | Up to 100 % (IFCE) | Choke if fed dry, and eaten very fast. Keep long fibre alongside. It is not a low-sugar product: 18 % sugar and fructans. |
| Bagged chopped fibre | 0.45–0.55 | 50–70 | 1 kg | 2 to 6 kg | Up to 100 % (IFCE) | Molasses on some versions. Long fibre alongside lengthens eating time. |
| Corn silage | 0.80–0.88 | 30 | 2.5 kg as fed | Half a broodmare\'s amount for a horse at maintenance | 20 % of the ration at most (IFCE) | 30 to 35 % starch: laminitis and acidosis. Calcium deficient, mycotoxins. For studs only, under veterinary supervision. |
For a 500 kg horse in light work, which needs around 4.5 to 5 UFC and 300 to 350 g of MADC per day. No replacement ration costs less than hay, except haylage. The point is not to save money: it is to halve the amount of hay you have to find. French market prices, October 2026.
| Ration | Per day | Fibre DM | Cost / day | Hay saved over 180 days | Who for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reference | 10 kg of meadow hay | 8.7 kg | 2.30 EUR | — | What the horse was getting before |
| A — Sparing with hay | 5 kg hay + 3 kg oat straw + 1.5 kg dehydrated alfalfa + 1 kg soaked beet pulp + mineral supplement | 9.1 kg | 2.88 EUR | 900 kg | Every yard. Transition over 2 weeks, taking out 1 kg of hay every 2 or 3 days. If beet pulp is short, add 1 kg of alfalfa instead: 2.36 EUR. |
| B — Haylage | 12 kg of haylage at 60 % DM + 1 kg of straw + salt lick | 8.1 kg | 1.68 EUR | 1.8 t — all of it | 6 horses minimum per 450 kg bale. DM above 55 %, wrap intact. Botulism vaccination to discuss with your vet. |
| C — No hay at all, from bags | 2.5 kg straw + 4 kg soaked cobs + 1.5 kg soaked alfalfa pellets + 1 kg chopped fibre, in 4 meals | 8.1 kg | 8.20 EUR | 1.8 t — all of it | Total shortage, old or asthmatic horse, 1 or 2 horses. 3.5 times the cost of hay. |
| D — Overweight or laminitic horse | 4 kg hay soaked 30 min + 4 kg oat straw + 0.5 kg unmolassed beet pulp + mineral supplement, in a small-hole net | 7.0 kg | 1.95 EUR | 1.1 t | Controlled weight loss, low sugar. Weigh the horse every two weeks. |
Ration A runs slightly over on protein thanks to the alfalfa, which offsets the straw. Ration B covers everything without a single scoop of hard feed. For a yard of 20 horses, ration A brings the winter hay requirement down from 36 t to 18 t: the difference between finding two lorry loads and finding one.
Alfalfa and cobs take up four times less space than hay. But every kilo of dry product that needs soaking costs time: count 10 to 15 minutes per horse per day extra for a ration based on soaked products, against 3 to 5 minutes for hay or haylage fed ad lib. That often decides between two solutions long before price does.
| Feed | Space per tonne | What you need | Keeps, once opened | Labour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hay, round bales | 7.7 m³ | Telehandler or tractor loader, dry barn, pallets on the floor | Several weeks under cover; a third of the value lost in 15 days in the rain | Low |
| Haylage, 450 to 700 kg bale | 3 to 4 m³ | Telehandler with a bale grab, never forks. Bird-proof sheet. Can be stored outside on hard standing | 3 to 5 days. Any pierced wrap means the bale goes | Low when fed ad lib |
| Straw, bales | 6 to 11 m³ | Same as hay | Long; dusty if badly stored | Low |
| Dehydrated alfalfa | 1.8 m³ | Closed dry store (rodents). Tubs for soaking the pellets | Several months in a sealed bag; 12 h once soaked | Moderate: weighing, and soaking the pellets |
| Sugar beet pulp | 1.1 to 1.5 m³ | Soaking tubs: 1 volume of pulp makes 3 volumes once swollen. Warm water in winter | 12 to 24 h once soaked | High: soak 2 h ahead, tubs to wash every day |
| Cobs, compressed hay | 1.7 to 2 m³ | Buckets, water, 3 to 4 meals a day | 30 min to 2 h once soaked | High: soaking and splitting into meals |
| Bagged chopped fibre | 3 to 4 m³ | Nothing at all | Months, bag resealed | Low: weighed and fed dry |
A worked example. A yard moving 20 horses onto ration A replaces 18 t of hay, or 140 m³, with 10.8 t of straw (90 m³), 5.4 t of alfalfa (10 m³) and 3.6 t of beet pulp (5 m³). The barn is more than enough, but you also need a closed, dry store for the dehydrated feeds. And every day, 20 buckets to soak the night before and wash afterwards: count 3 to 4 hours of extra work, or a pellet dispenser.
Around 30 % of the hay fed in Europe ends up on the muck heap. A net on a round bale saves 1.3 t of hay per horse per year: more than any substitute, for 80 to 150 EUR and with no risk at all. It is the first thing to do, before you even look for a supplier.
| Round bale in the field, fed like this | Measured waste | Cost of the kit | Pays for itself in |
|---|---|---|---|
| On the ground | 57 % | 0 EUR | — |
| Ring or cone feeder | 19 % | 300 to 500 EUR | 2 to 4 months |
| Covered feeder | 9 to 11 % | 1,000 to 1,500 EUR | 6 to 8 months |
| Round bale net | 5 to 6 % | 80 to 150 EUR | Under a month |
Three more levers, in this order. 1. Weigh the rations instead of handing out a slice: a slice weighs anything from 1.5 to 4 kg depending on the baler, and 5 % less per day is 200 kg per horse per year. 2. Do a forage budget: stock in tonnes times 0.85 for dry matter, requirement equals head count times days times 8 to 10 kg. Weigh six bales at random: an 8 % error on bale weight wipes out a month of stock. 3. Buy together to fill a 22 t lorry: 35 to 45 EUR per tonne of haulage over 500 km, against 135 EUR for a pallet.
A yard twenty miles away is looking for some, and has no idea you have it. A 22 t lorry works out at 35 to 45 EUR per tonne of haulage over 500 km, against 135 EUR for a pallet: grouping together with neighbours changes the price as much as the choice of feed does.
SOS oPaddock puts yards with spare forage in touch with yards looking for it. It is free, and it takes two minutes.
Never pay a deposit without having seen the hay.
Offer or find forageThis article is drawn from a report checked line by line against the IFCE fact sheet. The maximum shares are the ones given there.
These figures are general guidance, for a healthy adult horse in light work. For a sick horse, a veteran, a broodmare or a foal, the ration must be agreed with your vet or an equine nutritionist, ideally on an analysis of the forage you have actually bought (35 to 55 EUR a sample).
Equimondo tracks rations, feed stocks and every horse's movements: the day the price of hay doubles, you know exactly how much you are using and what you need to pass on.
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