the cost of hay

Hay is high all over the East Coast this year. I paid almost double what I usually do ($1 a bale out of the field) for mediocre hay. I did get some excellent hay early in June so I'm mixing it. It's crazy what hay is going for this year.

Stacy in NY

 

What a feed store would charge doesn't have much to do with what the farmer got paid. Hay isn't exactly cheap around here. I paid $3 a bale for so so alfalfa at the farm. I see it priced from $60 to $125 dollars a ton at local hay auctions. $3 a bale would put it close to $100 a ton.

 

Depends on how heavy the bales are, too. I'm paying over nine dollars a bale here for grass hay for my buck and wether, and just under nine dollars a bale for alfalfa for the does. This is from the feed store. But, they are heavy bales, three-string, over one hundred pounds each. I could get hay from the farmers for about half that price if I could get enough money together to pay for the whole year's supply at one time. But they would have to deliver and stack, because I can't lift those bales. It's all I can do to slide them out of the back of my van.

Kathleen in Oregon

 

Ouch! Square bales of Tifton 44 sell for about $1.45 here.

 

Hay sold today here anywhere from 1.50 to 2.00 depending on the content. (ditch grass or alfalfa)

 

Send me some... it's $10 for a three-wire bale here

 

Hay here is $8.50 for a bale of alfalfa, two string, about 60 to 70 lbs.

Coastal Bermuda is $3.50 to $4.50 a bale, average weight is 50 lbs. Horse Quality.
Fescue hay is $2.50 to $3.00 a bale.

Cow hay runs about $.50 less a bale. Round bales between 900 and 1000 lbs are $25.00 to $35.00 depending on whether it is cow or horse quality.

I bought 75 bales yesterday of really well fertilized coastal for $3.00 per bale from the same man I buy hay from all the time. I'll pay $2.50 in the field in about a week for the third cutting...will get about 150 bales which should last me quite a while. Lots of work though for someone with a bum shoulder!

Sidepasser

 

I just paid $200 for 4 big round bales, delivered. we went to them 3 years ago because we are both getting older and just can't haul and stack square bales anymore...
Horse quality coastal hay --- one bale will last 6-8 weeks. I wish we had a shed to put it under, but we tarp it and it works well.

 

The high cost of supplies has about done away with cheap hay. Fertilizer will be $300. a ton for triple 17 in 2005. Fuel $2.a gal. I payed $1200. for my old baler, a new replacement will cost $10000. I can't afford to buy hay so I am making my own. My cost on making it is $1.25 per square bale.Hay in the future will be at least $5. a bale.

 

In the field it's 75-85$/ton here in SW Oregon for grass/clover. 85-120 in the barn. I did mangage to get 6 tons for 60$/ton second cutting grass hay.

 

Hay is cheap here in this part of Missouri this year because we all had lots of it. It's $2 for brome/clover mix---square bales. The baler charged me 95 cents a bale to bale it. I feel real good about the situation.

 

I only pay a $1 per bale for grass from my local farmer and he delivers the hay wagon here, we unload and he picks up the hay wagon the next day. I can also go collect some from another guy and he charges 1.25 a bale. I really appreciate my local farmer he's the best to us. I don't think I could afford animals at the price that some of you pay for hay, that has to be tough.

Carol K

 

I get eastern WA first cut alfalfa for $140/ton + $35 delivery and stack. That's the lowest I can find and it is excellent stuff. Three tons gets my Highland cow, year old steer and spring calf through the winter.

 

Hay is cheap here in Central Missouri also. I paid $1.00 for 75 pound square bales, and $20.00 for huge 6X5 round bales in the field. This is good mixed grass with lots of clover in it. Lucky for me the field is only about 1/4 mile away.