Current hay prices

[John in WI]

I'm curious to know what people are having to pay for hay this winter. Right now I'm buying big rounds for 40 dollars that I have to bring home with my own tractor. When we stocked up this summer, small squares were 3 dollars each.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

at the feed store (for horses) big three wire (string) bales: alfalfa, $12; bermuda, $13.

 

[bigbull338]

you can buy rolls here for $10 to $50 a bale.an square bales for $3 to $6 a bale or more.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

you can buy rolls here for $10 to $50 a bale.an square bales for $3 to $6 a bale or more.

Amazing!

However, I can't imagine the $10 to $50 a bale for rolls is of any significant quality. Please explain more about type of hay and quality... Inquiring minds want to know! LOL...

 

[bigbull338]

bill its just 1st non fert hay.the ad didnt say what kind.also on the same ad was fert hay for $18 a bale.

 

[Alice]

Today, I saw a gooseneck trailer out in a field with 3 round bales on it...and a sign that said $35. Don't have a clue if that was delivered or not...or if that's all that was left. Nor do I have a clue it it's horse quality or whatever quality. I do know that right now hay is selling cheap around here...well, at least in comparison to last year!

Alice

 

[mack]

its all over the board here. I've paid anywhere from $15 for fair quality to 35 for good quality stuff that tested close to dairy quality -yes I got lucky... it was first cutting alfalfa x og and had some weeds and came from a good friend.

on the flip side, there have been folks paying up to $60/roll for rolled corn stalks and $215/ton for alfalfa.

regardless, a $15 hay test is WELL WORTH THE MONEY!!!

 

[No Bull]

The hayexchange.com is a good place to find hay prices around the country. I think it is fre to place an add.

Matt

 

[novaman]

I'm paying $70/ton for pure alfalfa hay, 2nd cutting with RFV at about 160 @ 21% protein. Of course this is for the dairy side of the operation. I can buy poorer quality 1st cutting alfalfa for $40/ton and feed it to the beef animals.

 

[Limomike]

Thats not a bad price for that Alfalfa hay Novaman..
Most hay around here is from 25-40 per big roll. good quality. 3.50-5.00 for small square bales. We had a good hay season, so most everyone around has good quantity.

 

[novatech]

Around here nobody buying nobody selling. Just way to much hay made this year. Most places are not feeding yet as there is still plenty of stockpiled forage in the field. Very few even bothered to plant winter grasses.

 

[Limomike]

novatech, I assume thats what is happening around here..not too many selling; we too have quite a bit of forage in our pastures, I just recently turned my cattle out onto a field that has not been grazed for months. They are sure enjoying it! Plus.. keeps me from having to put out hay for now.
With the way the weather is looking for the weekend... not sure how long that will last though.

 

[novatech]

I have to admit I throw out a few square bales every day. It gets the cattle coming to me a keeps me from having to drive across the pasture full of huisache and getting flats. It also uses up some of the extra hay in the barn that is on the outside edge. When in rains the wind blows in and gets some of it wet. I like to feed it up before it goes bad.
We are expecting a little rain but only getting down into the 40's this coming week.
My native rye and clover are already coming on strong. Looks like I'm going to have enough hay for the next few years.
I see thousand's of bales stacked up in pastures around here. Most of it will become pasture compost. Just no place to store it, and no demand. I sure hope these guy's saved some of the money they made last year when they were hitting people up for a $100 a bale.

 

[Lammie]

I'm curious to know what people are having to pay for hay this winter. Right now I'm buying big rounds for 40 dollars that I have to bring home with my own tractor. When we stocked up this summer, small squares were 3 dollars each.

Bought squares for 3 bucks. Can get rounds for 25 down the road, we pick it up. There's LOTS of hay around here.

 

[Lammie]

you can buy rolls here for $10 to $50 a bale.an square bales for $3 to $6 a bale or more.

Amazing!

However, I can't imagine the $10 to $50 a bale for rolls is of any significant quality. Please explain more about type of hay and quality... Inquiring minds want to know! LOL...

Bill, around here it's horse people. They want "horse quality" hay. And since I am convinced that the majority of them don't know "quality" from shinola, I am guessing is it a general crap shoot. It is also the difference between first cutting and any subsequent cutting, how "pretty" it is, and the difference between coastal and sudan.

I have seen some stuff that was called coastal and it looked like maybe coastal in a weed field.

 

[backhoeboogie]

First cutting (some weed in it) fertilized coastal can be had for $12 a bale. Horse quality coastal is around $30.

Last year they were trucking in trash and it was over $100.

What a difference a year makes.

 

[blacksnake]

My area in Illinois was also hit hard by a late freeze that set the alfalfa back and then a severe drought. I am currently paying about twice what I paid in previous years. currently around $130/ton for alfalfa/grass net wrapped. That is my cost with me picking it up.

 

[Susie David]

Good alfalfa is fetching $200/ton and expect the price to really go up after the first of the year. DMc

 

[MoGal]

I'm surprised they aren't hauling some of the hay from TX down to TN.... Bridgestone Tire has hauled it for free (for the publicity) to a Coop ........ I think the driver drops the trailer somewhere in Nashville........ its part of a program down there to help the farmers in the drought.

We just bought 15 5x6 bales (stored inside, nice grass hay hubby says) for $78 bale which seems very high to me but hubby says they are around 1500 lb bales.

We have about 1200 alfalfa/og square bales stored in the barn.

 

[Brandonm2]

Some dude in Texas trying to make a buck off of the drought has an ad in the Alabama Cattleman (pg 27). He is asking $40-50 a roll plus $5 a roll too load and the buyer has to do his own shipping back to Alabama