Feed Prices

[Candleliteranch]

Here in W PA, we're paying anywhere from $6.88/50# for packaged pellets/sweet feed to $8.24 for 50# of 12% sweet feed. My SO says this is outrageous and iwhere he comes from (MO) it is a LOT cheaper. Well....is it cheaper? What do you pay and where are you located?

 

[Lena1]

Here in W PA, we're paying anywhere from $6.88/50# for packaged pellets/sweet feed to $8.24 for 50# of 12% sweet feed. My SO says this is outrageous and iwhere he comes from (MO) it is a LOT cheaper. Well....is it cheaper? What do you pay and where are you located?

Hi I'm Karen from Sydney in Australia. Luckily we are not feeding many at the moment.

We are paying $25 for a bale of Lucerne hay (when we can get it) sometimes theres just none around.

$26 for a bag of mare cubes and $32 for bag of Lucerne chaff. Its really sad looking at classified ads and the large amount of horses being sold or given away due to our drought and rising feed prices

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Karen you poor thing, those prices are really wild!!

I pay about $22.00 AUS for Alfalfa chaff- that is £9.50 and $19.20 US , I pay £6.50 for a bag of straight barley, that is $13.50 US and $15.50 AUS.

I pay roughly £2.50 a bale for hay but I am doing my own if it ever gets done!! That would be $5.00 US and $6.00 AUS, roughly.

We are in a sort of reverse drought- the whole of Gloucestershire was under water a while back and a lot of farmers lost their crops due to flooding.

I shall be more affected by the Sugar Beet harvest as I use so much in winter (I strip graze so use virtually no hay, but they obviously need feeding as well)

 

[Minimor]

I'd say prices in PA are cheap compared to what we pay here (Manitoba) for bagged feed.

Rolled oats is $8 for a 55 lb bag; pellets vary depending on brand;

Frontrunner feeds Mare/Yearling pellets is something like $14.25 or $14.50 for a 55 lb bag; their foal pellets are $15.50. Masterfeeds were $1 cheaper when I was buying them. Frontrunner's Cool Command (low starch/low sugar) pellets are $15.50/bag. Nutrena is right up there too in that price range. 12% pellets are a little cheaper, $12.50 I think, or $12.75.

I haven't bought sweet feed in a long time; last time I did I think it was $12 something for a 50 lb bag.

Co-op's Challenger 12% pellets are cheaper, $6 for a 55 lb bag, but the quality shows too--the texture isn't a nice & our horses find them less palatable--I tried a couple bags but won't buy any more of it. I'd rather pay more for a more palatable product.

Brands such as Purina and Buckeye aren't available here, at least not as far as I know--if they are it would be by special order & very expensive I'm sure--I don't know anyone that feeds them. I did get a survey awhile back, from Platform feeds--they were looking at bringing their product to Canada, but from the prices given in the survey it sounded like their feeds would be $19 to $20/bag.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Here in MO Omelene 200 cost about $13 and the Platform Mini feed costs about $15. Fortunatly my last purchase on the mini feed I was able to get it $2 a bag, boy did that save me on cost of feed. Also Equine Jr. cost like also $13 a bag.

 

[Steph_D]

I'm in SW MO and the last time I bought 12% sweet feed (a year ago) it was less than $7 for a 50 pound bag. Nutrena Sr is about $13 a bag and Nutrena Prime is $10.

 

[shalamara minis]

Here in Central Ore. I just paid $225 a ton for Top quality Orchard grass hay. I know this farmer and he takes care of his fields extremly well and there are no weeds and it is almost as high in protin as alalfa. There is hay around for $175 aton but quality is not as good.

Our grain, Platform Mini is 12.99 a bag but I have to order it 10 bags at a time to get it. Omaline is 12-14 a bag.

 

[Leeana]

Sweet Feed around here costs like $7.50 for 50lb at TSC, i dont use sweet feed but that is the average at the co-ops i've noticed. I pay $22 for 50lb of Buckeye Gro N Win, it actually saves me $$$$ in the long run.

We got 100 bales of orchord grass/alfafa mix a while back for $1.75 and we just got another 100 bales yesterday at $1.75 of the same thing.

I guess we are kind of lucky.

Beet Pulp costs me $11 for 50lb of shreds.

 

[chandab]

My usual feed is Progressive Nutrition ProAdvantage grass formula, I pay $24/50# bag; I also use Progressive Lo-Carb at $16.50/50# bag.

Last time I bought COB it was $9.00/50# (I bought it for my bottle calves to get them started on creep feed, the molasses helps).

Last time I bought my senior feed (early spring) it was $11.50/#50 bag.

I can get AGCO Safe and Sound for about $11/50# bag.

Nutrena senior is $14.50/50# bag.

Alfalfa cubes were $10/50# last time I bought.

Chopped/bagged alfalfa/timothy mix is $12.99/40# bag.

There are a couple other feeds available but I don't buy them, so don't keep track of the price.

 

[Ms THE]

I am in eastern PA between Philadelphia and Allentown. I am paying $9.70 a bag for Nutrena Safechoice. I feed 1 bag a day. I switched from Purina Strategy due to a problem with the feed store I was getting it from, but it was over $10.50 a bag then. I am VERY lucky as I get my hay (alfalfa orchard mix) from a farmer for $4 a bale delivered. It usually goes for $5-8 a bale around here. I feed 4 bales a day now, will feed 5-6 bales a day in the winter. Have any idea what my feed bills are like? That doesn't include the different supplements they are on. I think that most of the country has high feed cost right now. Some much worse than PA. :bgrin

 

[lilmiraclesfarm]

Regular second cutting hay is about 7.00 and change a bale. I buy platform mini feed. I pay 11.00 for a 25 lb bag.

 

[MountainMeadows]

Here in the Pacific NW I pay about $11 for a 50# bag of sweet feed and $12.50 per bale for orchard grass. I can't imagine paying those Australia or Europe prices :new_shocked:

Stacy

 

[palsminihorses]

I live in SW Missouri. I buy Nutrena Safe Choice for $8.95/50#bag and a commercial sweet grain for $8.00/50#bag.

Pam C.

 

[frekles93]

[SIZE=14pt]I buy Purina feed... my cheapest I get is $8 a bag (50#) and the highest is $15. As for grain it is $3.50 to $4.00 a bale for orchard mixed.[/SIZE]

April

 

[Candleliteranch]

Thank you everybody that took the time to reply. I appreciate your input!

:

 

[Bess Kelly]

In VA I'm paying $16.80 per 50# Purina BTW, $10.80 Blue Seal Demand, $13.80 Blue Seal Vintage Sr., Beet pulp 10.50-12.00, $26-30 flaxseed, all 50# bags and hay......Excellent Candian Timothy, $480+ per ton, same with most soft orchards/tim mix. AND glad to even find the quality I want. Many farms, due to weather, haven't cut when they should/need and much of what I see if over matured which makes it stemmy.

With 43 head, I spend about $25 per day on hay/concentrates with some minor pasture (no rain!!!!!). More in winter when I increase hay. I do not use sweet feed.

Usually Spring through Fall we can "save" a little in general feed costs compliments of pasture. This year it isn't happening. With the increase in feed/hay costs due to gasoline, weather damage, etc. I am planning on a sizeable increase for the year.

 

[Margo_C-T]

I recently bought my years' worth of alfalfa for $185/ton, picked up at the farmers(a 230 mile round trip, but it STILL is less expensive than buying it at the feed stores, AND I know the quality of the hay!)

Grass hays-mixes, timothy, orchard-are running at @ $9/bale; if bought from feed stores/secondary seller, 'gross receipts' taxes add around .50-.60 per bale. I feed three Triple Crown feeds-Complete, Senior, and Lite-all cost $15.99/50#, before tax is added.

I am hoping to be able to buy some really nice beardless wheat hay for my one 'big' horse this year; she loves it, it 'checks out' nutritionally, and it will save me considerable money, enabling me to keep her awhile longer....

Some people don't know how lucky they are, to be where feed costs are still so reasonable, I think--while some are clearly dealing with EXPOTENTIAL increases in costs! Last year, bad weather was blamed for the run-up in grass hay costs; but this year, that 'cause' apparently doesn't exist, at least in the area our hay comes from, but guess what? The price has STAYED high..... :no:

Bess-WOW! $480/ton for hay....now, THAT'S frightening(at least, to me!)

Margo

 

[Georgine]

We are located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.

Hot and dry conditions here so our hay supplier did not get a second cut.

We usually don't buy from the second cut of hay normally, but might have asked for a load this year due to having to supplement the pastures all summer with our winter supply of hay due to the drought. I hope we don't run short by the end of winter.

We feed;

hay-timothy/alfalfa mix and 50 pound bales are $2.50 each

horse krunch-50 pound bag $14.00 (a bag lasts one week feeding 25 minis)(vitamin and mineral pellets , also aids in digestion)

crimped grain-80 pound bag - $8.00 with a small amount of flax added to the pail before feeding, for coat condition

free choice salt blocks always available around a $1.00 a block

 

[Bess Kelly]

:bgrin Yeah, $480+ a ton frightens ME, too!! Especially with having to use it all summer this yr. Using less than winter when NO grass, but still it is an additional expense I didn't really want.

Under normal weather conditions we grow wonderful grass in my area but, too humid to get it to cure well for hay. Thus local hay is not purchased unless it is being use that week -- and minimal quantity. Easily molds if you attempt to buy quantity and store.

I use 1.5-2 ton a month in winter plus BP. Thankfully I don't have many snow issues and/or really severe cold weather, which helps. But I use an easy 8 ton a winter. That's 4K and I do not waste any!

:

We don't have a 24/7 feed area here, etc. It is metered out.

: Right now I'm at about 40% of that winter use. BP helps in summer as it is cooler to digest. With the heat, they tend to eat less overall.

RAIN!!!!!!!! Oh, please RAIN!!!!!! 1/2" every 7-10 days hardly keeps the dust down. Few miles away they got enough to need to cut grass. :new_shocked: Grrrr. I'm on a natural high ridge in my area and the storms tend to skirt me sometimes. More so those with a lot of lower wind channels, they seem to get broken up by my elevation.