Hay= the price of gold (or almost)

[Davie]

I have spent more for hay this year that the last 2 years combined. I was able to get 100 bales early June for $7/bale--he was rationing everyone. Then my other regular hay dealer was called to cut an 8 acre pasture that made 230 bales and I wished I had bought it all but only got another 75 for $5/bale. Then was told by both my hay guys that there would be no more hay to sell and no Round Bales at all. That left me extremely short as I put up 175 square bales and then use about 20-24 round bales.

I've been going to Lumber 2 and getting 3x4 mid square bermuda bales that are weighing 1120 pounds and they are only lasting about 10-12 day and right now are $140/bale. I can get round bales of brome for $70/bale and I can get ND alfalfa 3x3 bales for $140/each.

Last year my square bales were from $4.00 to $6.00/bale and my round bales from my close hay guy were $35/bale delivered and from my other guy they were $40.00 and I had to go get them.

My good winter hay is almost gone now as I've had to feed it now and I have one 3x3 alfalfa bale in the barn to use this winter and will be going today to get another 3x4 bermuda for the kids in the big lot. Would love to put in at least 2 more 3x3 alfalfa bales before it disappears. May also change the horses over to brome as I've heard it makes good horse hay as well.

Hate haveing to pay almost double for hay from last year and our long range forcast is for continued hard drough conditions for the next 2 years. Sure not going to make it easy that is for sure.

 

[chandab]

May also change the horses over to brome as I've heard it makes good horse hay as well.

When its put up right, Brome makes excellent horse hay; around here its often put up a bit late, so its a bit coarse, but my horses just love it. Wish I could get more of it, but we tend to get more Crested Wheatgrass (it tends to grows better in our dry climate than Brome).

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Some of you definitely make me feel good about our hay price. This weekend I'm getting my winter supply of hay delivered-- 2 1/2 semi loads (50 bales per load--800 lb bales) of round bales, $33 each. That better last us through to spring!

50 TONS OF FREAKIN' HAY??????

 

May I ask how many you're feeding?

WOWZER!

 

 

[ohmt]

Parmela, we go through about 70 large round bales each winter with about 40 minis to feed. Our mares and foals eat a LOT. It is all free choice for them. About 1/4-1/3 of it goes to waste as well (which is why we only use large bales during the winter-small squares are much more economical)

 

[chandab]

50 TONS OF FREAKIN' HAY??????

 

May I ask how many you're feeding?

WOWZER!

 

We put up more than that every year, but we also have a herd of Red Angus cattle to feed.

And, i still buy some hay, as most of our homegrown is definitely cow quality.

 

[Minimor]

I'm feeding 40 smalls and 1 big at the moment. The big mare & at least one Mini will soon be gone, so that will help a little. I feed hay year around since our pastures don't amount to a lot--we're on sand here so grass is never real lush. This year I have ordered 100 rounds that are about 1200 lbs each (and have used almost 1/2 of those already since July. Some are grass, others alfalfa/grass and a few 2nd cut alfalfa (which I do not feed free choice). I'd ordered 175 of the 800 lb rounds but a couple weeks ago asked my hay guy to add another 50 to that number. I'm getting the 120-130 delivered now & the rest he will keep until spring.

When my hay comes this weekend I plan to put 30 bales in for the 9 pasture geldings--I figure that will last them until mid March. Same number of bales & hopefully similar time frame for the 10 pasture mares I'll put 10 into each of 2 paddocks, 5 horses in each paddock--that will last them until early or mid February....would put 15 each but if the spring thaw comes early and if there's much snow to melt I could lose both paddocks & have to move the horses out--I sure don't want to have any leftover bales sitting in water. So, I'm putting 10 bales in the side pasture (unused for winter) and will have to feed from there when the horses finish their bales...more work for me but I won't lose any hay to water that way.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I got 10 bales of brome in September. They were very light, only about 40#. My two boys LOVE the brome! I've never seen them eat hay right down to the last stem before. It was my first experience with brome. I was told it came from SD. It is so fragrant, too.

 

[vickie gee]

I have bought what I can locally. Coastal and tifton, anywhere from 6-8 dollars a bale. Tomorrow we go pick up about 90 bales of tifton. My husband will do most of the work, but we are taking 2 trailers. The bales are lightweight because the grass was so short. Hopefully, I will be able to do my fair share of the work. The feed stores are already up to $10 and more. I checked on getting some alfalfa/orchard trucked in but could not afford or need 600 bales. I have room to store it, know I could sell enough to help pay for mine, but at this stage of life I don't have time and don't want to get into the hay brokerage biz!

 

[dgrminis]

Looks like very nice hay. It is "native KS prairie hay"--whatever that is. It is harvested off huge properties, some as large as 6000 acres. The hay guy told us the field is burnt off every year which controls the weeds.

Anyway, it is beautiful, soft, and a nice green. My two boys have already sampled it and seem content.

We are in Kansas and not sure if you were asking or not but "Native KS Prairie hay" is just hay made out of the "native" grasses here. We feed primarily brome but do also feed prairie hay and our horses love both and we haven't ever had any problems. Both are nice and grassy and the brome smells excellent

Prairie hay smells good to me too but not as good as brome

 

[dgrminis]

I got 10 bales of brome in September. They were very light, only about 40#. My two boys LOVE the brome! I've never seen them eat hay right down to the last stem before. It was my first experience with brome. I was told it came from SD. It is so fragrant, too.

Those are very light compared to our brome bales here in KS - ours normally weigh 70-90lbs. But the horses love them and you are right it does smell wonderful.

 

[MBennettp]

I usually buy round bales but got left out when my hay guy suddenly retired and the guy that took over the baling wouldn't sell. I have ended up with the $140 squares of bermuda. The horses love it but I don't have anyplace to store but one at a time. I think about 3 more will get me through the worst of the winter. I sure had to blow my hay budget but at least I was able to find some.

I keep the feeders full day and night. The horses actually seem to eat less when they know it is going to be there when they want it.

 

[Equuisize]

Our access is better hay is limited down here. What comes into the feed stores hasn't been good this year and the local yard, isn't getting anything much better, just a bit cheaper.

Everyone keeps saying that it was a bad year and this year for sure they aren't embellishing their stories just to raise the prices.

We've bought local orchard grass from a grower for 4 years now. Because of the rain it was cut later than usual and it isn't so hot either, so we didn't buy as many as normal. Well, that an the big guy has developed an allergy to it.

We were hoping to find some good alfalfa as Zoe is still nursing Zakky, got some that was really good and some that was half the quality. the big guy is eating it strictly now, too, so was hoping to find something really nice for them.

Yesterday Michael drove back up to where we used to live, out of desperation to find better hay, and brought home some nice Eastern Washington alfalfa & then some alfalfa/orchard grass mix.

The guy thru in a bale of Bluegrass just to see if the kids would like it.

Anyone have any experience with bluegrass?

It's very fine and the color isn't bad considering the year we've had.

I tried Teff hay once, years ago. It was a lovely color and the kids used it to pee on or threw it around their bedrooms...so that wasn't an economy at all.

However, another horse in the barn loved it so we donated it to him.

As far as prices the local orchard grass was $6.50 for about 60# bales, in mid July this year.

Alfalfa has been running about $15.00 a bale - although the nice stuff he got yesterday was $11.50 for about 95# bales.

The alfalfa/orchard grass mix was beautiful and was $14.50 a bale 90# bales.

The Bluegrass was free but he charges $10.00 a bale for it and the bales are 110#

 

[jayne]

Hi Nancy,

Interesting that you should bring up the Teff hay. That's all I've been feeding for a couple of years now and my horses do really well on it, and no one turns up a nose at it. I do buy direct from the grower in the Yakima area and it's lovely, green hay. Last year it was $150 a ton and this year it was $180 a ton, which still isn't too bad EXCEPT I had to pay to have it hauled over here to me on the west side of the mountains and that added $75 a ton more, for a total price of $255 a ton. The bales are right at 100 pounds so that make it $12.75 a bale, which seems about the same or a bit better than anything else from eastern WA. My hauler brought me 7 tons (the limit of his trailer), but eight would have made me feel a bit better in case the winter is hard. I might drive back over there myself with a small trailer in the next few weeks, but we'll see. I'm feeding a clydesdale, two standard donkeys, a pony and three minis. One donkey and one mini have foundered in the past and I want to make sure to feed them a hay that is as low in starches and sugars as possible, and the Teff seems to work the best.

I hope you get some good information on the bluegrass. That seems like a great price and if it's good hay, that might be worth getting a bunch of it. I hate going into winter not having plenty.

Jayne

 

[Flying minis]

Didn't plan on such high hay prices this year, but after they went up last year, we sold down over 1/2 our herd of big horses (went from 20 to 6) and bought 2 extra minis. Leased out one biggie so I'm feeding 5 big and 5 little ones. Our pasture was fantastic and we were able to cut it and bale into big rounds, so we actually should have enough of our own hay (grass / brome mix) to get through the winter. At the hay auction near us, grass is up to $240 / ton, alfalfa even higher, so our timing turned out perfect (amazing for us, we're usually just far enough behind the curve that it costs us). Plus, the gal who boards with me has connections with some hay folks from her hometown and got us 80 bales of alfalfa / grass mix (about 70 lbs) for just $3.00 per bale, we'll feed that when we have to keep horses in overnight.

But it seems hay prices are nuts everywhere, I know last winter I went through a round bale (800-1000 lbs) every week - glad I won't be having to buy that much again this winter! Last year I got 12 bale loads every 2 1/2 months, this year that many should make it almost all the way through winter for us!

 

[Leeana]

I have never paid over $3 a bale for hay, 50-60 lb bales. I was at a sale over the weekend and fresh cut alfalfa sold for $4 bucks a bale which is unheard of around here. We are pretty lucky to get hay at the price we do and there is always somewhere and someone who has it. Generally speaking, we pay 2.50-2.75 a bale for alfalfa or orchard grass.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

I have never paid over $3 a bale for hay, 50-60 lb bales. I was at a sale over the weekend and fresh cut alfalfa sold for $4 bucks a bale which is unheard of around here. We are pretty lucky to get hay at the price we do and there is always somewhere and someone who has it. Generally speaking, we pay 2.50-2.75 a bale for alfalfa or orchard grass.

We down here in Texas hate you....

We just bought three bales of alfafa a few weeks ago and it was $27 a bale!

They are gorgeous large 100lb bales, but really! Ouch. Fortunately we don't go through it fast, it's just for our weaners.

 

[Equuisize]

Thanks Jayne,

I read up on that Teff hay after we got it and thought it'd be good for the little ones.

Couldn't convince them of it though nor the big guy....

Guess they are picky eaters like me.

Plus I only saw it offered the one time at the feed store and never saw it available again.

Sure was pretty stuff and smelled wonderful.

Hope someone has experience with Bluegrass, too.

 

[Minimor]

Bluegrass is supposed to be nice feed; I know it makes good grazing, but we get it in hay here & our horses simply do not care for it at all. They will pick it out & throw it away & eat whatever good stuff is mixed in with it. If there's nothing mixed in with it then they go through the hay & then stand at the gate & wait for something better to come along. I'm not sure if there are different varieties of bluegrass & people here grow the wrong kind, or what the problem is.

I just got my 130 round bales delivered today; it hurt to pay the trucking and the hay came from just 35 miles away. I asked the trucker what it would cost to have a load of hay shipped down to OK; he said he's been contatcted about hauling hay to TX for cattle, and he estimates it will cost $5000 to $6000 in trucking. There were 50 bales on each load, so $5000 would add $100 per bale to the $33 per bale I pay for the hay itself. OUCH.

I have to say it sure is nice to have my winter supply of hay all here!

 

[SHANA]

My hay is free for me and I have lots, more than what I need so my husband has been selling what I don't need round bale wise. I use round bales outside in feeders but do have small square bales as well for when the horses are in the barn. We bale our own hay so it only costs diesal for the tractors, etc but I don't pay for that.

 

[a mini dream come true]

""We down here in Texas hate you....

We just bought three bales of alfafa a few weeks ago and it was $27 a bale!

They are gorgeous large 100lb bales, but really! Ouch. Fortunately we don't go through it fast, it's just for our weaners.""

Lucy, We are just envious of the fact others can get hay cheaper

The hay prices are killing us. Minis aren't so bad, but put a couple of biggies in the mix and OMG

. They can go thru a big round bale in a week. They are going to put me in the poor house for sure if we don't get a break.