Well here I go again- I went to the feed store I normally use and he had not brought in any new hay- just his last years so I only bought a few bales to cary me for awhile. I am intending to get hay in early this year if I can. But he did say when he gets his new hay, it will be $350 a ton- that's $22 per bale- and he's not giving a price break for buy tons instead of per bale. Owww. I love living here but the place is a sort of old family monopoly- not much competion at all- hundreds of miles away from any other towns. I went to the other feed store in town - they usually only carry a fescue/brome mix and I don't really like to feed fescue, not that I ever had a problem with their hay. He said he was gettting an orchard grass within the next week or two. They will call me with a price when it comes. I also have to pay an $80 delivery fee. So what can I do- animals have to eat and I don't have enough land to support my animals. But I can see a point coming where I will not be able to afford to feed my horses. I will have to fence in the newest goatie pen- my girls eat and get fat- I need to control their grazing anyway- maybe the grass will be able to be spread a bit longer if I do.
Wow, I'm sorry this is a real situation for you. My goodness it has to be tough paying that amount for decent hay and wondering who you can afford to feed....it would be a good idea to "pen" your goats and let the grass spread and grow for your horses....even if you have to dry lot them for awhile, it won't hurt them though they'll cry because they can't roam....having very good hay feeders to minimize the waste that goats are known for would help too. I really pray that this situation doesn't get any worse for you...right now I'm wondering if the farmers in this area will get a second cutting with the way it's been raining. My hay source put up 700 square bales of first and would have had 200 more but now i's "mulch" hay because it was rained on...cheaper but I will not give it to my goats because of the chance of mold and rot.
WOW, I was lucky. I just bought several hundred bales at $3.25 a bale and they are about 60# average.
I get my hay for $2.50 a square bale average bale is 50-60 lb. I have a great supplier and he works with me. He cuts what he calls a cow pasture for me (its only called a cow pasture because its not all bermuda) but I would feed it to my horses any day of the week. $22.50 for a small square bale? thats outrageous. Not that this is much better but $350 for a ton (which is 2,000 lbs isn't it?) is .175 per lb. If a square bale on average is 50 lbs. that equals around $8.75 per bale? Just curious where the $22 a bale came from?
thanks for reminding me how blessed i am. Right now the price I was just quoted for timothy orchard mix is 4.25 a bale. And the bales are 45lbs The price for second cut will be higher but still it will be afortable for now.
110-120 lb bales- three strings. The 60 lb bales are two strings and I haven't seen any in years here.
Right now I can get the first cut at 2.50 a bale and they are 35 pound bales....cheaper than that if I help him unload and stack it in the barn. This is a mixed grass with errant alfalfa and clover in it. I am blessed and feel terrible for those of you ealing with either drought or flooding..it's awful
Ok now I see. I have never seen a square bale that has 3 strings? I have seen large square bales but they weigh a lot more than 120 lbs. The large square ones around here equal about the same as 5 x 6 round bales but you still don't see the large square often.
Here it's fires- luckily the closest to me is about 40 miles away. But this si gong to cause a problem for the places south of me- they have ldrought and fires. Right now I'm sitting in fog which usually is depressing but I'm really grateful for it at the moment- keep a little moisture on the land anyway.
Oh goodness,,,don't really know what to tell you but We grow around 1,000 acres of premium alfalfa. I really can't believe how much we're getting for it. Before it's even cut and baled it's all sold to a dairy and a feedlot which split it every year. That is A LOT of hay! I don't know how they do it! And we only do big 6 stringed bales. The smaller 2 string around here are going for about $15 a bale! A big reason that hay is so high is cause a lot of farmers (well, around here) switched their hay to wheat this year. wheat was in high demand this year. We took out some hay or leased more ground to plant wheat. So now there's not a whole bunch of hay as their was a few years ago. Another reason is because horse slaughter was banned in the US. There is such a large, overpopulated amount of horses, therefore less hay! I hate to see people around the hay growers suffer, just hard times...Just glad we're growing our own. Is there ANY other place where you could buy directly from the grower?? It would be A LOt cheaper than what you're paying. Or is there a pasture you could lease for your goats/horses?? Anyway, hang in there!!!
