hay prices are up

[SampleMM]

Well, my hay supplier called and has 1,200 bales ready for me. 1st cutting timothy and trefoil mix. Last year it was $2.00 a bale and now this year it is $3.00 per bale. I live in hay country where hay is overly abundant.

Due to the increase in diesel fuel, most farmers in our area have raised their prices. I can't blame them but it's such a bummer.

 

[whitney]

Yep same in Michigan it was 2.00 last year and 3.00 this year. But I'm NOT complaining I've been with the same hay man for over 25 years and his bales are heavy and EXCELLENT.

Here in Michigan I think the farmers will get a 3rd and maybe 4th cutting. They were taking first cutting off at the end of May kinda unheard of.

 

[Bess Kelly]

This is only the beginning! Corn is up 100% a bushel from last yr and will be down 10% ++ in production for '08. Plus all the other grains (soybeans, barley, oats, etc.) are going up, up, up! With the floods and fires even more production is destroyed. People food too. Not the farmer's fault & I sympathize.

I would kill for $3 a bale

$7 is cheap, cheap, cheap and not excellent here. $22-25 for a hundred # was LAST yrs price of excellent timothy/orchard/alf mix. I can hardly wait for the coming bill OH!

With my own work being a 100 mile round trip, I either need to be guaranteed 2 days a week work from home or a motorcycle for transportation

Our economy is in a terrible situation. Personally, I don't see it improving for a long time.

SampleMM -- does your supplier have more??????? I could honestly send a tractor trailer for a load and gladly do so!!

 

[strass]

Hay is going to be rough again this year. With the terrible storms that we've been getting in central states, many Farmers around here (myself included) lost our entire first cuttings of alfalfa. The guy in the office next to me (at my "real" job) also lost his entire first cutting of wheat.

The cost of keeping tractors running at today's fuel prices is going to have a big influence on the price of everything.

The price of corn is one of the main reasons why ethanol is not a good alternative fuel source. The more corn we use for other things, the more Cattle Ranchers are really feeling pain when they have to feed out their livestock. I only fed out 2 cows this year (for personal use) and the price of corn made it much less of a money saving venture than it used to be. At least they still taste great.

I guess when this beef is gone, my sister (the vegetarian) will have to be next.

 

[Jill]

We're paying about $5.50 - $7.50 per bale and happy

 

[SampleMM]

Bess Kelly I can talk to my supplier tomorrow and let you know. I know last year he sent a few semi loads down and got far more money. Fortunately, this farmer likes to take care of his neighbors first but if they belly ache then down the road it goes. I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong. But the area where I live is purely agriculture. That's what most people do here for a living. With that said, I'm scared for others that don't have hay readily abundant.

 

[wpsellwood]

I am soooo happy we got all of ours bought, delivered, stored and paid for. Thank goodness our neighbor behind us planted alfalfa (2 yrs ago) and he brings it on the stacker wagon and dumps it in our hay shed. I had been eye balling that field for 2 months. Not a drop of rain on it was down either. Wow what a relief. 6.50 delivered. Up .50 from last year.

 

[CrescentMinis]

Wow, most of your prices are sounding amazing to me here on the West coast!

I am paying 12-14.00 per 80-90 lb. bale of good Eastern Oregon Orchard Grass!! And I need 5 tons whenever the rain stops long enough here for the 08 hay to be baled.

 

[Sterling]

We're feeling the pinch here in southern NJ too. I was paying $6.00 to $7.00 a nice big bale of timothy mix and I just paid $10.00 for a bale. Granted it was'nt at the same place I normally go because I did'nt want to drive the 45 minutes out at the time, so I settled for a closeby feed store. Nice grass timothy mix tho...but $10.00 a bale!!! Yikes for us!

 

[New_Image]

We just bought hay for $4 a bale at the tale end there when it was hard to find. It was great quality hay, nice heavy bales. The same guy promised us a load right off the field for $1 a bale which I am very greatfull for!

 

[Marty]

Mine is being bailed this weekend YAY! I get fescue free orchard grass. It's not going to be too high priced at all and will be very good this year too so I am very thankful for that. It's already abundant here. I'm getting some alfalfa for the pregnant mares too and that will only be $4.50 a bail also. Not complaining here. What a delighful change from last years drought.

I just remembered we need another hay storage building OH! Dan is going to love to hear that one.

 

[Magic]

I just remembered we need another hay storage building OH! Dan is going to love to hear that one.

LOL! We just had a 24' x 48' hay building put up, and it's 18 feet tall to the rafters so the hay wagon can back in and unload-- no more hand-stacking hay, yay!!!

And no TARPING it, what a pain! The hay storage buildings are WELL WORTH getting. Tell Dan that, roflol!

We grow our own hay but pay a neighbor to cut, bale, and now haul it for us, and I'm sure his costs will be higher due to the high price of fuel, but still a bargain compared to what so many have to pay. All of our closest neighbors have switched to growing hay this year, from wheat, so there shouldn't be a shortage around here this year, though the all the neighbors are growing straight alfalfa instead of the grass/alfalfa mix that we grow. I'm waiting impatiently for our first crop to be cut, now that the weather has turned nice!

 

[Charlene]

may hay will be $4.25/bale, up a little from last year. but, i will have to put out another couple hundred to pay some guys to deliver and stack it for me. if i was buying from an unknown source, i would be nervous but this is the same guy i bought from last year. it's wonderful grass hay and i have never run across a single bad bale.

 

[CKC]

Same supplier and prices as Jill.

I'm thankful we have a good supply right now. Last year was not a good year for hay here. We weren't sure we were going to have enough to get us through the year. We don't have the facility to store a years worth. Would be nice if we did have it.

Kim

 

[running in the red]

at the local feed stores a bale costs 8-9 . and we are very affraid about the hay costs this season- another drought in sight for us of lower texas............one hay cutter that I use has done 1 cutting and said that he will not be doing another this year.............pray for rain our way..............san antonio texas area.

 

[Kootenay]

I'm not sure of the price of small bales, but in March, I bought three, 1250lb bales of hybrid grass at $90.00 a bale. From what I hear in this area anyways, that those bales are the way to go at this point and time. The hay is fine also--no more than 1 foot long cut--(almost like chopped hay). I've already put dibs on the next B-train shipment, as it is coming from Alberta.

This kind of hay is a pain in the rear to store and feed though, but the price is right, and the quality is good.

EDIT-- Found out that would be roughly 23 bales at $4.00 a bale in one bale of that 1250lb bale of hay. It's also based on a small bale weighing 55lbs.

 

[Minimor]

I'd be thrilled if my hay prices went up to $3 a bale! We've been paying $4.15 here the past year, and this year it will for sure be going up. My hay guy says he isn't going to put it up sky high just because he could, with the demand for hay being what it is, but it will definitely go up some. So, I'm waiting to see just how much more it will be this season.

This spring it was looking like we were going to have a major drought here. We'd have been okay--the one hay guy just bought some more farmland, complete with many acres of hay, so even if it were a bad summer he'd have enough hay for his regular customers--like us! THe past 10 days though it's started to rain, and now I'm afraid that it's going to forget to quit so that the hay can be gotten up in good shape. There will be hay everywhere, with none to be had because it's all rotten. Since last Friday we've had 5+ inches of rain--1.5" last Friday, 2 inches on Sunday and another 2" on Wednesday.

 

[Frankie]

Well, ours is down,,,,,to $5,,,,,,from $6.50 last year so I am pleased. Small bales, good stuff.

My hay guys thinks it will come down some more too, so that makes me happy.

 

[mad for mini's]

Due to late frost and no rain, this years yield was 1/3 of what it was last year so I am now paying $5 a bale, compared to 3.25 last year. It is worth it though, nice big bales and very fine orchard grass. The horses don't waste a bit of it.

 

[Indian*R*A*I*N*Dance]

I think we pay some where around $7-9 per bale