How much is hay going for this year compaired to last?

[Katiean]

For grass, Grass/alfalfa or just alfalfa it runs $13-$15 for 120# bail. I am getting a ton of tef for $120 and then I am going to mix it with grass or grass mix. It should really cut my costs.

 

[Magic]

I am glad to hear there are parts of the country that HAVE hay. It has rained so much here that no one has been able to hay. And no end in sight.....

It's the same here. We should have been able to cut our first crop of hay three weeks ago, but it's been non-stop rain here.

Not all of my horses are on pasture and we are VERY low on hay so I've been supplementing with soaked beet pulp and hay pellets. I've found temporary pasture for the big riding horses. Fingers crossed here for the rain to stop so we can get our hay cut, dried and harvested. It's alfalfa/grass mix, and the grass is four feet high!

 

[Sassy'sMom]

Last fall I paid $5 a bale, but I waited too long and didn't have much choice where I got my hay, so that was my fault. I found a new guy this year that was selling it for $3.50 a bale if I were to come and load it myself. But, for an extra $.50 a bale, he would deliver it and put it in my hay loft.

So that was a no brainer for me! I now have a loft full of hay and I didn't even have to touch it!!

 

[Little Bits]

New England has lost its first cutting and when it gets cut it will probably end up being mulch hay. I am paying 9.95-11.95 at the local feed store. Local hay is 4.00 to 6.00 if you can get it but it doesn't look good because it been raining forever. I paid 11.95 for first cut out of New York. the other day and it weighed about 80 lbs.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

Down here we just paid $4.50 a bale for coastal, picking it out of the field. Much better than the $9.00 we paid last fall.... plus we found a nice lady who can supply us with whatever we need at $4.50 a bale! And her fields are GORGEOUS!

Lucy

 

[chandab]

I'm always amazed at the prices of hay in other parts of the country; higher and lower than I pay. But, what really gets me is going to the feed store to buy hay; if you can't find a hay farmer around here, you are out of luck, feed stores do NOT carry hay around here. And, delivery, you can just about forget about it; unless you order a semi-load and pay freight. Most that put up hay around here, if you call and ask about delivery, you'll get that silence at the end of the phone and then No, we don't deliver.

 

[KanoasDestiny]

Well I can finally understand how people can afford to own so many horses.

I just bought hay 2 days ago, and well...it wasn't pretty, although, it was a couple dollars cheaper than last year.

For 1 bale of Orchard (I'm guessing it was about 70-80 lbs), I paid $20. Last year, I spend $23 for the same size/type of hay. Thank goodness I only have 2 minis!!!

 

[Gini]

Here in Tucson Arizona alfalfa is going for 9.50 a 110 lb bale. I feed burmuda only due to some foundering in past and I'm paying 15.50 per 110 lb bale. I pick it up if he delivers it would be 1.00 more a bale.

I can only dream of $4.50 a bale!!

 

[disneyhorse]

Our bales are 110+ pounds here, three string bales.

Alfalfa: $12.50

Orchard: $22.50

Bermuda: $15.50

Timothy: $24.50

Oat Hay: $18.50

Right now it's where it was last year, hay prices have come down only a couple of dollars the past few months.

Andrea

 

[SilverDollar]

Hay prices here in my area of Southern California are about the same as last year. I just paid $23.95 per bale of orchard grass hay; the bales are about 110# and are the 3-string like Andrea mentioned. (Gee, I just did the math and that's $435 per ton! Ugh.

) I think we are just used to outrageous hay prices out here; I guess that's what happens when you live in an arid climate. The hay I bought comes from Oregon but I buy it at our local feed store. They deliver and stack it, plus they will rotate the hay bales already in my feed room so the older hay is in front.

 

[Margo_C-T]

Alfalfa prices from my wonderful grower are down by $30/ton this year over last...to $200/ton-translates to a 90 cent/bale price reduction. Their bales solidly average 60 lbs., so $6/bale, picked up at their farm. It is about 115 miles from me, so of course the cost of travel to get it has to be included...but, from the feed stores in this area, it was running $8.50/bale or so last year, and then there was gross receipts tax added to that, which I DON'T have to pay when I buy directly from the grower.

Grass hay is another matter...I used to be able to buy from growers, in CO, and they'd deliver it for a 'per bale' price, but no longer, as I don't require enough to justify a load(it is at least a couple hundred miles). So, in recent years, I've had to buy from area feed dealers...with varying prices AND lowering quality. Seems nowadays the grass is cut when its 'convenient' for the grower, NOT when its 'at its best', growthwise...

--so much of it is overmature when cut. The only one I've asked about grass this year said it was 'the same as last year'-- $9.95/bale-of around 45-55 lbs, probably--before the tax is added...and he hasn't had any grass hay I'd want in a couple of years....UGH.

Margo

 

[SampleMM]

Just last night I bought 1st cutting timothy hay for $3.00 up some from last year. I live in the northwestern part of Pennsylvania.