Hay prices and location ?

[Richnm]

NM is in a serious drought. Zero cow hay for sale in the state. 1,200 pound bales of any roughage were $180 per bale before it was all sold out. Good alfalfa horse hay is $12 for 50-60 pound 2 string bales. Curios , what are hay prices out in your part of the country ?

 

[Lucky]

Looking like $40-45 for good weed free grass hay. $70 for fertilized tifton or jiggs. I'm in NE Texas and praying we don't have another drought year. It was really bad 4-5 yrs ago.

 

[farmerjan]

Wish we could send some out your way at an affordable price. We left 2 fields standing last fall since we had way more than we could use... $30-50 a 1000-1200 roll of grass hay if you can sell it. We are selling some to a few neighbors that are running short.... but they both are running more cows than they used to and their normal hay crops weren't enough. I looked at the US drought monitor on a thread... 2020 compared to 2021... and was shocked by how much land has gone into severe drought status.

If you know of anyone with a flat bed hauling to the east, and looking for a back load.... we could help you with some hay I am sure....know of some others with a good amount... and the local paper has alot of hay for sale.... It would be mostly just a grass hay, some weeds too.... but anything beats snowballs or dried up tumbleweeds I would think.

 

[4hfarms]

Been $35 for 1000lb fertilized bales, $25 for 4x5 field grass.

 

[sstterry]

Someone contacted Kenny last year from up North looking for Hay. I think he gave them the contact info of someone I recommended that over 300 4 x 5 rolls that were stored in the dry. I don't think they ever reached out though. I do know the young man sold it shortly after that to a couple of buyers.

I can reach out and see if he is putting up hay again this year.

 

[callmefence]

NM is in a serious drought. Zero cow hay for sale in the state. 1,200 pound bales of any roughage were $180 per bale before it was all sold out. Good alfalfa horse hay is $12 for 50-60 pound 2 string bales. Curios , what are hay prices out in your part of the country ?

Crop residue like milo and corn stalks can be had for under 100.00 a ton.
Decent hay is 150 to 200.00. Per ton if history repeats itself the dry trend will continue. Alfalfa is 24.00 for a three string. Should be a good position for a haymaker with irrigation....

 

[1982vett]

Crop residue like milo and corn stalks can be had for under 100.00 a ton.
Decent hay is 150 to 200.00. Per ton if history repeats itself the dry trend will continue. Alfalfa is 24.00 for a three string. Should be a good position for a haymaker with irrigation....

Texas is well on the way to a bad hay year this year too....plus add the cost of $3-$4 diesel to move it anywhere. Will irrigation run during rolling blackouts?

 

[Richnm]

If someone had a truck they could make a killing right now.

 

[Dave]

There is a lot of hay raised in the PNW. The vast majority is irrigated. Some as a rotational crop. Others it is their primary crop. Here grass hay in 3x4x8 big squares is $110 a ton delivered and alfalfa is about $150 a ton delivered. Most hay is sold by the semi load. Hay by the bale is available and certainly more expensive that way.

 

[C-Ranch]

Same here in Idaho most everyone does 3x4 or 4x4 big bales and handful do 6x5 rounds all sold by the ton. Right now it's around $120-$150 per ton depending on how good it is. Dairy quality hit $200 in Jan but I think it's down now though. If we didn't have irrigation, we wouldn't grow a thing. Drought years just make it harder.

 

[Lisagrantb]

I have about 300 4x5 rolls some clean fertilized bahia and bremuda other mixed grass hay left over this year and we gave our last cutting away to a neighbor because we didn't need it. If it is worth it to haul (central Louisiana) I would work out a deal to help someone out. I have access to a couple hay fields that we just cut to keep it cleaned up for the landowner and we never fertilize it and we get 2-300 rolls a year off that, some fertilizer would really make it produce.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Crop reside is very variable - - U$S 30 to 70 /T
Course grass hay is a little more - - mostly $70 to 80 /T
Heifer mixed hay is a good value - - $80 to 105 /T
Straight alfalfa is traditionally $1/point/T

Low cost cow bale grazing ration here is a mix of 2 parts residue and 1 part heifer hay.

 

[Son of Butch]

Crop reside is very variable - - U$S 30 to 70 /T
Course grass hay is a little more - - mostly $70 to 80 /T
Heifer mixed hay is a good value - - $80 to 105 /T
Straight alfalfa is traditionally $1/point/T

Low cost cow bale grazing ration here is a mix of 2 parts residue and 1 part heifer hay.

Last week at local hay auction, hay was in short supply...
course grass hay was 95t and mixed hay 135t
2 months ago it was 65t for course hay and 90t for mixed

Weekly auction prices can really swing depending on how much hay is brought in. Next week if a couple guys hear prices were up and bring more the price will drop again.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Dry and getting drier in the north. Some are buying hay for next winter.

Seems like fall often has the lowest hay prices. I think some hold off buying feed until they have sold their calves and/or they need a December tax deduction.

 

[BFE]

I'm buying 2019 net wrap fescue at $35 per 6X5, 2020 at $45. I could probably get it for 5-10 less if I haggled, but it's 2 mile down the road and the seller just had hip replacement and is self employed. No haggle this year, maybe next year.

 

[jltrent]

We have had a mild winter around here. My neighbor usually sells his quick, but I notice he still has most of it still on hand. Transportation cost is the problem. I figured last year all the cost going into hay making and it is not cheap feed to make. Add in the extra fuel cost and higher fertilizer and everything else to make money with hay it is not worth the cost going into the price of cattle. Hope you people get more rain.

 

[cowgirl8]

One of the guys working on the solar farm said where he lives, in south texas, bales are over 125. With the price of what we get for our cattle, who could make money raising cattle when hay is that expensive... Post 2011, we stay 1000 bales ahead.

 

[Dave]

I haven't noticed hay prices falling but it is almost April and I see lots hay in the stacks at the hay farms. A big carry over helps drive hay price down.

 

[WFfarm]

The northeast had a cool spring and dry summer last year. Most everyone harvested 20-25% less hay out of the same fields as the year before. We bought more than usual and fed more than usual because we had to start feeding sooner. Hay is scarce now with at least a month to go before spring grass growth. Hay prices have about doubled from October to now, if you can find good hay. Small square are $5 each for 1st cut grass and $7-9 for second cut and alfalfa. 4x5 round bales are $50-75 each. I saw a market report recently that good alfalfa hay went for >$300/ton at auction.

 

[WFfarm]

A neighbor beef farmer has a couple boys a few years out of college. He boys have been getting more into the square bale business. Sold everything they baled and at a good price. Much of it went by truckload to the Carolinas. They want dad to sell all the cows and only do hay. They think the hay is to valuable to put thru the cows.