How much would I pay for a bale of barley?

[nectarine]

I'm trying to clear the muddy old lake that we have, and read that a few bales of barley straw will clear the water and stop further algae growth.

The neighbouring field is planted with barley and so I was going to ask the farmer if, when he crops it, I might buy a bale. It wouldn't need delivery (since it is on a hill and presumably we could just roll it a couple of yards into our lake!) but I'm guessing it would be one of the large roly-poly bales.

Since our neighbouring farmer is a bit of a wise boy I'd like to know in advance how much is reasonable to pay for a bale of barley.

Any advice, please?

[Pierre ZFP]

I don't know what they cost now but a couple of years ago in the UK they were about £2 for the smallish 'square' bales. When you go and ask it might be as well to state that you only want some barley straw and not the barley itself.

I remember reading that a relitivly small amout of barley straw is needed to discourage slgae, A roly-poly bale would do a huge lake.  Maybe you could glean several handfuls to bind up, after the combines have been through and before the field is ploughed?

[Quillan]

I read about this some time back. You need to put something inside the bail to 'get it started'. Don't forget to put a sturdy rope round it as you need to remove it after about 8 weeks else the pond/lake will go back to how it was and with a vengance.

[nectarine]

Thanks for both replies. Yes, I must remember to say it is barley straw! It's pretty big, though a good size bale will double as a duck island as well, although we planned to tether it with some rope so we could bring it to shore.

I don't know you need something to get it started though ... a friend told me his local council used to chuck a bale of hay into the municipal ponds and they were always clean. I've read a bit about it and it seems they 'kickstart' naturally!

[Quillan]

I did actually get it wrong finding the document now. You need to put it in a sack or ladies tights so it does not break up when you pull it out.

One of the sources

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/5698462/Ponds-how-to-keep-your-water-clear.html

Third paragraph down.

[Yonner]

Yes they do. Friend of mine managed a big midlands reservoir and fishery, they strung barley straw in each year, but just the straw, in large " onion nets"

[Rob Roy]

The price will depend on how good the harvest is this year. Two years ago I paid 10€ a bale but last winter it was 20€ due to the poor harvest last summer. These are smaller bales than the large ones you usually see these days, which might be about 40/50€ - this is the size I get:

[IMG]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/Bouillaguet/The%20Donkeys/Donkeyswithstrawbale1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/Bouillaguet/The%20Donkeys/Happinessisbaleshaped.jpg[/IMG]

I'm not sure that you'll be able to control a large bale (they are very heavy) once it starts rolling and they don't necessarily keep in a straight line! Why not ask if you can go and collect some loose straw (filling plastic sacks) from the farm as they are sure to have some.

[nectarine]

that's a good idea, thanks very much. The barley looks pretty ripe for harvesting ... although it's been beaten down badly by the persistent rain.