HEY! Hay.

[WannaBeFarmR]

So I'm going to need at min about 300 bales of hay for my goats I don't have a huge trailer so I was planning on buying local and making a few trips to get it. I live in Michigan and good alfalfa was going for $8-10 a bale last fall because of the drought...ouch! So we've got lots of rain this season and the first cutting is coming up any time. So I've been trying to find some good stockpiled hay that might be up for sale if after the first cutting (If all goes well there should be some sales of last years hay to make room for this years cutting. But the local farmers are asking $8 bucks for 2012 grass hay still, which is what I paid for alfalfa and alfalfa grass mix last year when there was a shortage...this year the hay is crazy tall in the fields so what the heck? Are the farmers just being cautious or are they being greedy and trying to keep prices high to make a big score? If it doesn't come down I'm going to need to buy elsewhere which would mean I need to find a co that sells and ships large personal or small business amounts of hay. So did anyone do this last year and who'd you use and what did you pay? And is this a local thing or is hay still that high all over the US?

 

[meme]

I would be so amazingly beyond belief ecstatic if our hay prices were that low. The cheapest bale of alfalfa I ever bought was $17. The most expensive was probably $23. For the last 5 months we have been sitting pretty steadily at $20 a bale. Consider yourself lucky.

 

[alsea1]

At those prices my goats would just have to settle for grass hay.

 

[meme]

Forgot to add that grass hay costs the same as alfalfa for us. So, we go with alfalfa.

 

[Lynn]

I think it is absolutely horrible to pay $3.75 for a bale of good horse hay!!! Right now we are cleaning out the last of last years hay in the barn for a farmer, still green and wonderful, for $1.50 a bale... everyone is loving it!!!

I don't know if I could have horses if I had to pay that much for hay... My fields are not that large and not that lush, so I have to hay all year long...

Loving our hay prices in Vermont!

 

[bjjohns]

I think it is absolutely horrible to pay $3.75 for a bale of good horse hay!!! Right now we are cleaning out the last of last years hay in the barn for a farmer, still green and wonderful, for $1.50 a bale... everyone is loving it!!!!

This last winter we averaged $140 to $160 a ton here in east central Ohio. Most people were paying $400 to 500 per ton. Hay was really expensive for us. The previous year we were paying about $90 to $100 a ton.

The high prices were the primary reason we researched and built a fodder system. You can see my discussion on it here: http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=26201

 

[bcnewe2]

I paid 7.00 a bale for good grass this year in February. They have dropped prices a bit but we're getting so much rain its keeping the hay out in the field.
I'm going to pay 2.00 a bale for someone to customs bale my own hay....so excited but the darn rain won't quit! If things go well I will get enough hay from first cutting to cover my sheep all winter then sell the second cutting which will pay for all of my hay!
This will be out first hay from this place!
I couldn't afford to keep sheep if I had to feed hay all year.
really depends on the for hay prices, same with livestock prices. I feel blessed to live in the cheap area!

 

[Genipher]

We're thinking about getting goats. We live in Oregon and the cheapest alfalfa I can find is $15/bale. Orchard hay seems to run about $4.50/bale.

 

[babsbag]

I pay 15.50 a bale for a 110lb bale of alfalfa and the same for grass. I can get good wheat hay for 11.00 but it is not a good hay to feed my bucks full time so I pay for the alfalfa *ouch*. I also need the alfalfa for milk production. I don't have irrigated or level land so growing my own is a non-option. Expensive hobby.

 

[WannaBeFarmR]

Dang the hay prices are hurting everyone it seems. Keeping my fingers crossed for a good cutting and that farmers do what they are known for and be good honest people (And don't ride the hay bubble...cause bubbles always pop!)