Hay

[farmerjan]

I understand the respect and am of the "old time" frame also. I am 65, so right up there with @greybeard . We do have a couple of people who prepay, and we do store it. Also have a few that we have worked with for many years, that we know pretty much how much they use year to year and we "reserve" that much to make sure they get what they need BECAUSE they have been good customers over the years.
It sounds like you are trying to accomodate the farmers time and schedule, so I don't have any other suggestions except offer to pay for it ahead of time. We will work with a regular customer as to time and such. Thing is we both work other jobs, so it is even a tighter time frame for us to make things work. If your hay guy is retired, then he might just not want to be bothered. I can't help you there.
@greybeard is also right on the small return on hay. With the cost of equipment constantly going up, and then dealing with the weather, you are really not making much. One of our biggest problems it getting help to make square bales. We have a kicker on the baler so it throws them into the wagon. Unless we are going to unload them and put on a trailer for delivery, or stack into the barn right away, we won't leave them just kicked on the wagon as they get "out of shape" . Then they don't stack well. So we kick them on the wagon, and every 20 bales or so my son stops, and stacks them on the wagon. I have ankle and knee issues and cannot ride the wagons to stack like I used to. Besides, most of the time he is baling, I am at a farm testing cows which is my "real job". I do most all the tedding and raking of the hay during the day, so when he gets off work, he can go right to baling; and I go to a farm to test cows.
There are fewer and fewer people that are making hay in this area except for the big round bales. And there are some that make the big squares but that is mostly for people who have a smaller tractor with a front end loader so they can handle and stack several. The demand is for the small squares, but the prices aren't there to justify all the work that goes into them; and there is not the help like there used to be to handle them. When I was younger, you could find any number of kids that wanted to earn some money and would be happy to come help hay. Nowadays, they don't want to get dirty, sweaty, or hot and would rather stay inside playing on an electronic device, than to work. The ones that want to work, have more jobs available to them than they can do.

 

[Genipher]

No offense to you as a small time "farmer". Yes it is time consuming to only go to the barn to load 10 bales at a time. We don't like to do it either. Partly because the person coming to get it is often not on time and we have other/better things we need to be doing. Plus, it takes time out of our day that really is a waste for that small a quantity. We are making about $.50 per bale, to go load it. That's say $5.00 for a special trip; really not worth it, especially if the farmer works another job or had alot of animals to feed, or alot of hay to load. We try very hard to get people co-ordinated to coming when we are going to be there to load someone else, or load our own trailer to make a delivery, or are feeding... but that also interupts what we are doing. If at all possible, try to get with this farmer and get some out of the field when they are baling, so they are "already there" and not making a special trip.
Is there any way you could get another "storage space" so that you could get say 40-50 at a time?. A friend has one of those "garage in a box" storage "buildings" that they use. I realize $300 ( or whatever the current price is - need to catch them on sale) is not chump change.... but once spent, and put up, it will really help you save time and money in the long run. You could also use it to store your lawn mower, or some other stuff in part. They also have the distinction of being "not permanent" so are not taxed like a building... and can be moved / taken down / reused somewhere else.
Another advantage is if you could have enough storage for a years worth, you would not have to deal with hay shortages and the increased prices and lack of availability. Ask anyone who is living in and dealing with hay shortages and terribly increased prices due to demand. That alone would pay for the storage.

The garage in a box looks pretty neat but we don't have the space for it. If we didn't use our woodshed for, well, wood, we could use it for hay. I think the best option for us will be putting as much into the shed as possible. Eventually I might be able to get a second, smaller shed to store more. I'd rather have as much stored as possible rather than having to go buy hay every month or two.

sigh. Right now I'm not even sure we'll be able to get the goats I want. Seems like it went from YES! to Nope, to well, maybe... I appreciate all the advice.
As an aside, @Hipshot ...are dirt floors better for goats? The shed was here when we bought the place and I immediately thought it'd be good for goats. I didn't realize cement could hold in stink or cause drainage problems (still learning!).

 

[Baymule]

I have a dirt floor for my chickens, sheep and horses. I deep litter the chicken coop, just toss more leaves, spent hay or whatever I have when it gets messy. They scratch through it, poop on it and make compost.

The sheep lot is dirt. Their barn is dirt floored. I use pine shavings in the barn. We scrape it out every couple of months. When lambs are due, we scrape it down to the dirt and fluff it up with pine shavings.

The horse barn is open, they come and go at will. We do likewise for them.

For milking goats, you would want a clean, not dusty place to milk them. But I wouldn't keep them in it all the time, just while milking.

 

[Genipher]

I have a dirt floor for my chickens, sheep and horses. I deep litter the chicken coop, just toss more leaves, spent hay or whatever I have when it gets messy. They scratch through it, poop on it and make compost.

The sheep lot is dirt. Their barn is dirt floored. I use pine shavings in the barn. We scrape it out every couple of months. When lambs are due, we scrape it down to the dirt and fluff it up with pine shavings.

The horse barn is open, they come and go at will. We do likewise for them.

For milking goats, you would want a clean, not dusty place to milk them. But I wouldn't keep them in it all the time, just while milking.

I figured during the day they would wander the yard. At night, I'd shut them in. I wanted to keep the shed open during the day so they could get to their hay or get out of the rain (or do goats care about being rained on?). I still need to figure out a clean place for milking, though if I get the bottle babies I'm looking at, it'll be awhile before I need such a place. I should have time to figure that part out...

 

[Baymule]

Your goats should always have access to their shelter. My sheep are so spoiled to their barn, when I put them in another pasture, they will go to the gate and yell at me to go back to their barn to ruminate. LOL

I don't have goats, but it seems to be universal that goats think they will melt if they get rained on. LOL