Hay

[Vicky Texas]

:new_let_it_all_out:

Hi Gang

Just wondering on coastal hay, is everyone still having trouble getting hay? I am trying to

figure out what is up with our hay man. Normaly by now he has a barn full of hay, and

we are paying around $4.00 to $4.50 a bale. But everytime I call him to get hay now, he

still saying he does not have any or he has just a few bales. I am going to look around

in the paper this weekend to see if any is listed for sale. I don't think he has had his first

cutting yet. :nono: I am worried, if he does not have hay now, what will happen in the

months to come. He is higher on his price to. :no: I know gas is higher. But he keeps

going up. So this is making me nervous. We have never paid $6.75 a bale. I want to

know if this is just him or is this everywhere?

Thanks Vicky

 

[chandab]

Well, we are just getting ready to start haying and we are going to be hard pressed to put up enough hay for all our cows and horses. It was too dry this spring and everything has already started to head out, but is only 6" tall. What rain we've had has come too late for the hay to be good or plentiful this year. So, it's going to be a tight year for hay.

 

[schutzandwhinnies]

Here in western Washington we are paying $14.99 a bale for grasshay and that is the ton price. The cheap stuff is available from private sellers, but the quality is lacking. This is the 3 string and heavy from Stroh's feedstore. I have driven all over looking for grasshay that smells good, isn't moldy, and isn't all stemmy as our mini and goats leave the stems. No stems in these bales and the animals eat every bit of it

The animals leave the stems and therefor the cheaper bales for us end up going to waste and we use more of it, so I pay the extra and get the nice hay and there is no waste from the mini's or our pony.

:

 

[Miniv]

Well.....it's nice to know at least we aren't the ONLY ones..........

We live in hay growing country. Would love to know where it's all going!!!! No one is saying a word.

MA

 

[dangerranger]

Here in central CA we were paying $12.75 a bale, but we just got our first cutting baled and the price has droped to around $10.00. most of our feed goes to the dairy cows. I would be willing to bet that most of the hay in the western states goes to the cows. DR.

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

We're in Northern CA - alfalfa has been $12.50+ a bale & $14+ for any grass hay.

I spoke to our feed store owner the other day and he said by now (this week) the price will be dropping here. He won't buy first cut alfalfa for horses, and the second cut was nice, so he'd have that this week. He just finished out all that he'd stored over from last year.

We've been paying $12-14 for the grass hay for the foals and for the mares to foal on - I'm glad foaling is over and the prices are dropping finally!

 

[Colagirl]

We are having the same problem her in Ireland....The weather has been so erratic, some have started cutting the hay but its raining today (typical) and it was too dry before that to make the grass grow! We have no hay in our area.....I started feeding haylage but its quite course just now and the horses dont like it so wondered about alfafa. Anyone know if its a good substitute for hay??

Our hay here is about 20 - 30 euro for a round bale (=to 10 or 12 small square bales)

 

[Becky]

We've been in a severe drought since last year and grass hay is scarce in Oklahoma. We are now paying $7.50 a bale from the feed store when they have hay!!!! Ouch!

 

[targetsmom]

Well, in Connecticut and Massachusetts it has been so wet that first cutting hay is about impossible to find. I bought one bale of grass hay last week for $4.99 but that was all I could get. That is for my big horse, who is mostly on pasture so he doesn't need much. Forecast here is for rain until the middle of next week, so prospects are not good. The minis get second cutting so I may just wait.

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

I'm up here in northern Wisconsin, and our hay crop is very good this year. We're in the middle of making first crop right now, and so far Bob, (hubby) has put up about 3,000 bales for me and still has along ways to go. I want small square bales when I fed, so the bales he does for me and the ones that are sold up this way usually avg. about 60 #s and are selling in the $2.00-2.50 price range. The large round bales we do for the beefers, those avg. 1000#s to 1,250 #s and sell in the range of $40.00. - 50.00 Corinne

 

[coopermini]

Here in Maine we are way behind getting any hay in. It has been so rainy and wet that even if the sun comes out the ground is so wet you can't drive equipment on it. Price of hay is going up. We have some left from last year and have been getting calls on that. We have put up about 10% of our first crop as haylage with no dry hay at all. Our neighbor did get in one small peice of dry hay that he is rationing out to his customers. A few people further inland did get a little more in last week but not very much. Feed stores have been buying some really crappy stuff just so they had something to sell. Local feed store $6.00 per 40 lb bale that we wouldn't use for mulch it is that bad.

Yeild will be high this year but quality is dropping fast!

All of you in a drought we would sure like to ship you all of our excess rain!!!!

Mark

 

[Jill]

We seem to always have trouble finding consistently good quality hay. However, a farm not too far has just cut 2nd cutting orchard grass (like 10,000 bails...). We got 1st cutting from them previously and I was thrilled. It's gorgeous and soft. Of course, the 2nd cutting is even more fabulous. H has just finished this building for his old cars, but made a space in it for me to put my carts and some hay. We are going to try and put up 200 bails of this hay, which should actually last us until into next spring. It's honestly the prettiest, sweetest hay I have ever seen.

 

[Jill]

PS We're paying $5/bail and happy to do so.

 

[Range]

No rain in Texas means no hay. There has been a first cutting, but the first cutting is typically for the cows since it is full of weeds and such. Most are keeping their hay for their cattle and some are already having to feed it to the cattle, something unheard of in June in Texas. Usually, they can get three cuttings of hay here, but that won't happen this year. Many lost entire crops due to fertilization, then no rain. The fertilizer burnt out the crop. So, here in Texas, alternative sources of forage will be a must yet again this year.

Oh, for a little rain.

 

[Denise]

I can always find hay, its the price I dont like paying. We've got a neighbor that is cutting next week and we'll be getting alot of our hay from him at $5.00 a bale. Its nice quality coastal hay. We use to pay $3.00 per bale. We're round bailing our own hay field which we have already sold. If we dont get any more rain soon there wont be a second cutting, so I am hoping this first cutting will pay for all the hay I need to get me thru the winter.

 

[Bess Kelly]

The WEATHER has created such an issue for growing and cutting in most areas.........so, expect to pay a price above normal for what you get. Then the cost of gas affects the farmer and the transporter. I have a turf farm near me so I am able to get nice, clean, fresh bermuda for next couple of months (they irrigate!) and while it's good hay, it is not rich hay. So, I really like to have a good orchard, timothy, or mix for hard winter. For summer, with some pasture, the bermuda is actually perfect.

Last year my hay man got the most gorgeous timothy from Canada I've ever seen! Wasn't cut late so leafy and not heavy stems. They ate every speck!! We usually get really good orchard from him, too. But, hey, I've been paying 20-22 cents a pound for a looooong time. So, those 100# bales cost me $22-24 with tax.

The bermuda is running about 10 cent a pound, but, it doesn't provide as much nutritionally as I need mid winter. I end up having both in the hay trailer and so far, it's worked for all the animals but, my wallet is flat! :bgrin

:

 

[sdmini]

Add us to the list that is going to be short of hay.

We put up our own and it takes at least 500 big round bales to make it through the winter and we are done haying and haven't gotten 1/2 that.

Tomorrow we are going to start cutting out cow/calf pairs to sell and I'm going to have to go and start cutting out mares as well to list. I should have already started but just haven't been able to bring myself to do it. Already had to put my "new" show horse up, but so far no bites.

 

[ThreeCFarm]

As Becky says, here in OK (and Texas for the most part) we've been in a drought since last year. No rain=no hay. We have bought our round bales from the farmer down the road for years, but he isn't selling any right now and he's worried he doesn't have enough for his own animals. There are very few ads for square bales or round bales around here. The hay we have been buying certainly isn't the best quality, and we've just been buying from whoever has it at the time we need some.

I have 20 acres that I'm trying to find someone to bale for us right now. We just bought the place last year (still have no barn or fences), and nothing has been done to the grass in years. However, it is better than nothing, so we'll keep looking. If I was just a few miles closer to Lawton, I could have had it baled already, sigh...

 

[MountainViewMiniatures]

As an earlier post said in CT all we seem to be getting is rain,rain,rain - attempted our first cutting when forecast called for good weather = got 100 bales (actually about 150 but 50 odd bales too wet -we test every bale for moisture and temp) then the baler broke! By the time (next day!) we were able to borrow a baler , a bad thunderstorm came in and poured for about 10 mins and the remaining hay waiting to be baled ( 600+ bales) instantly became mulch hay

- hopefully we will get a good second cutting

 

[JohnN]

Hi Vickie, We have been buying our hay in Weatherford from Horsemans Supply at 2020 Ft Worth Highway. It is California bermuda and the horses love it. The bales are 3 string about 140 lbs. each. The last I bought was 16.95 per bale. You might also try Hay USA in Weatherford, also on Ft Worth Highway. She usually has the same hay. Medium size square bales are around 8.95 for Texas grown if you can find it. Good luck.