2022 Hay prices

[SLW]

While at a horse show on Saturday I chatted with other competitors. One gal bales brome (grass) hay to sell and she had just run her production numbers on Friday. She said her cost per 60# bale this year is $8. She will be selling them for $9/10 a bale. In our area that same bale was costing$5.50/7 a bale last year.

My hay guy of 22 years passed away last fall and I’ve hooked up with another supplier this year. I’m guessing his fees will be similar. Last year I was paying $5.50 a bale so looking at a $4/5 per bale increase in 2022. 🫢

[Foxglove]

Here in NE Indiana hay is down due to an abundance! I see lots of hay down and on wagons and this is only second cutting. I have contracted for my 400. Don’t know the price yet but it will be fair.

[SLW]

@Foxglove

Here in NE Indiana hay is down due to an abundance! I see lots of hay down and on wagons and this is only second cutting. I have contracted for my 400. Don’t know the price yet but it will be fair.

That’s terrific for your area!!

[CrazyGuineaPigLady]

Still looking at our hay in the field. Regular rain, often daily, has kept local folks from cutting. Slightly north and east of Lansing MI. Grass is ready, but time to get it dried has not happened. Looking at cutting Thursday… maybe. Machinery is ready, all gone over for a smooth working process. Have not figured costs, everything we cut will be used by us, unless some miracle growing happens! We need about 1400 bales for winter, to manage until next year with our 9 horses. They are on fertilized pasture all summer, until the grass quits growing.

Fertilizer prices are up, though needed minerals are available for my needs. Some faemers can’t get the ingredients they need to fertilize with for their crops. Tractors need expensive diesel to run, add in cost of twine, so making hay will cost more than last year for sure. I fertilize pastures and hayfields (total 20 acres) each year after soil testing. This keeps production of grass and hay up, along with animals getting the proper nutrients from their forages. My hay test was perfect for horses! May need to hire help to get bales stacked in the barn. No one is doing that for $10 an hour anymore! I invested in an accumulator and bale grapple 2 years ago. Grapple saves a LOT of individual bale handling muscles, getting hay stacked onto the wagons!

I just noticed I am posting under Crazy Guinea Pig Lady instead of my goodhors name!!

[foggybok]

Back in 2008 or so, diesel prices jumped through the roof. Hay prices went up with it. I found it interesting that when diesel went back down, hay prices did not drop.

I expect a similar trend here…

We’re getting a bumper crop of 1st cutting in the area, so I think those that were hoping to get premium prices are going to be disappointed. We also had a huge 4th cutting last year after the drought, so supplies were not as tight over the winter as they had predicted…

[SusanO]

I got enough to get me through until fall. Because it is so humid here in the summer I don’t like to buy more until September or better October or November when it has cooled off. I paid what I did last year - $10 a bale for really nice OG because I bought it out of the field. The bales were in bale barons so they just took their tractor and set them on my trailer and one in my truck so no harder than buying it from the barn… Now the diesel fuel to go get it was about 50 cents a bale more than last year but it is really nice hay so I am happy. This fall I will probably pay more but that is the price in my area to not feed local bermuda hay. I am still paying less than feed store alfalfa/timothy hay and about the same as feed store bermuda. It seems the farther north you go, the price of hay drops.

[george]

Wow. Those are amazing hay prices. We pay $24-$26 a bale for grass hay from the feed store right now in Northern California.

[carman_liz]

Here in east tn alfalfa is going for 10 to 12 bucks a bale. Timothy / orchard mix is about 7 to 8. I thank my lucky stars my fata&& pony can live on mixed grass bales lol. My hay guy I found last yr was at 4 bucks a bale. Charging new customers 6 bucks this season but told me yesterday he can let me have it for 5 since I bought from him last yr whew!!

What kills me is I overseeded annual rye in december (yes I know I am weird n wanted to see if it would grow) and just a couple weeks ago I had to mow down basically a hay field of the stuff! If I could only afford a tiny sickle mower n a mini round baler…sigh!

[endlessclimb]

You’re already on second cutting? We just took down first in NW Indiana. It’s getting teddered today and baled tomorrow.

I’m buying my supplemental hay from my hay guy for $6 a bale still.

[clanter]

We have been feeding TEFF which is being hauled into the area from elsewhere…Oct 2021 was $23.50 Jan 2022 was $25.50 March $27.50 then the last was delivered this month… $35.50 (We were getting 2.2 tons per delivery)

these are three string bales weighing about 130/140 pounds

We have one current horse that really does very well on the TEFF…everything Loves it…the horses, the miniatures the goats just love it But $550 a ton is starting to get expensive

So our farrier just asked if we would be interested in some of the hay he raises, has some of last year’s remaining…delivered and stacked at… $6.60 per bale (about $250/ton)… two string 50/60 pounds

And he is now asking if we wanted to be put on his “list” of clients …well YES … cost is to be $8 per bale due to the fuel price increase which would take us back to around $320/ton

[Foxglove]

Yes. First cutting is in the barn for many. Last week second was on the ground drying and hopefully baled before last nights rain. Most in my immediate area (heavily Amish) only feed hay in the winter. Pasture is good here. I feed Nov 1 to April 1 usually.

[frugalannie]

So much rain last year that there were fields we couldn’t mow, not even once. We had planned to rotary mow them over the winter to knock down the junk, but the ground never froze solid and the tractor was getting mired. Now we’ve got decent growth, but unclear what the quality of the hay will be.

I’m sure that hay from other sources will be more expensive than usual due to fuel, fertilizer and labor costs as others have mentioned.

[Obsidian_Fire]

Here in Oregon we don’t even have first cutting down yet, and no end in sight to the rain. Eastern Oregon farmers by now would be working on second cut, I think we will be lucky to get 2 cuts this year when we might normally get 4.
We need the rain, at least the east side does, here in the valley any hay they cut will be worth bupkiss it will be so overgrown. If it’s even edible at all. If it even dries enough to be baled.
Last year I paid 400/ton for timothy, and a bit over that for alfalfa. This year I am expecting 500/ton. Farmers in a local FB group are warning not to wait til last minute to put your hay up either. I kind of think I’m going to have to buy it as it becomes available and put it up.
Glad I only have one horse.

[2DogsFarm]

I’m not too far West of @Foxglove & cutting has just started here.
But it looks like most will get a 3rd cutting this year & that should help keep prices same as last year.

[luvmyhackney]

Haven’t seen any crazy price spikes from my supplier yet but I already pay premium for the hay to be delivered and stacked in the barn.

He said to expect a 10-15% increase in the fall so I got all of last years hay I could store to avoid the price increase as much as possible.

I paid 11.25 a bale for last years alfalfa hay and 9.50 a bale for second cut orchard, bales are around 50-55 lbs. I can find cheaper but this hay is tested and so clean. Plus supplier and delivery crew are just the nicest people and are paid well.

[NancyM]

We won’t cut for another month. That’s normal for around here. We will only do one cut, though some local farmers try to do two, and it’s often a disaster- thus our decision to only do the one cut. On the occasion that we have tried to do a second cut, it’s been sketchy and risky. But our fields are growing well, should be a decent crop. We haven’t had much warm weather yet, and are currently getting some rain, which is good in our fairly dry climate. Our irrigation is WORKING (so far) this year, so that’s a bonus too. But diesel costs are going to be a killer, that’s for sure. Our prices on hay we sell will increase this year, about 20% I think.

[Calvincrowe]

Just saw 110lb alfalfa bales going for $40 each in the Portland/Vancouver area. As Obsidian said, we have had record rainfall from April to now…with no end in sight. No hay cut on the westside of the mountains at all yet. Very late! “Local hay” (which I don’t feed) is basically anything that grows gets cut and baled, often with no weed control or fertilizer. High in sugar, low in nutrition, lots of waste in my experience. Right now, if you can find any, it is selling for $20 or more per bale…50lb. bales.

I am hoping the eastern OR/WA hay situation is better than last year. Many areas should have more irrigation water than previous years, but darn it, they aren’t getting any dry weather to cut and bale. My supplier is in far SE OR, still pretty reasonable (I paid under $390/ton for 3 string orchard), and put up 20,000 tons of hay last year, and expects to put up double that this year (according to his dealer here in the PDX area). Hoping like heck his prices stay lower than others I’ve dealt with.

I do feel like everyone is taking a bite of the profit pie, which is how the free market works. But ouch!

[Dressage_Redneck]

I’m in southern New Mexico/West Texas. Last year I paid 175 per bundle of alfalfa (21 bales to a bundle, each weighs 55-60 pounds). This year it went to 210 per bundle, a 20% increase. Luckily, I stuffed my barn full last year and still have lots left so I only bought a few bundles. Add to that the fuel prices to drive truck and trailer about 100 miles round trip to go get it and get home).

Our grass hay (bermuda) is shipped in from Arizona. Three strand bales, about 100 pounds each. Last year was $19/bale. This year, I picked up 10 bales at a local feed store at $26.50 each. I then found a supplier that delivered 64 bales to me (a squeeze) for $25/bale. My cost increase on grass is about 30% over last year.

We are in the desert so no pastures. I also have round bales of grass (bermuda/prairie grass) that came out of the Abilene, Texas area last winter. Around 1100 pounds. I paid $140 each for them in December. I put them out in my turn out so the horses can munch on them. I don’t know what the prices will be this year, I will need to buy some in a couple of months. I anticipate a big jump

Fuel prices are continuing to rise but the other factor is the cost/availability of fertilizer. The grass has to be fertilized after every cutting so that could really jump the prices up in the coming year. The fertilizer is made of urea, which is the same thing that makes the DEF for diesel engines. There is talk of a national shortage of it as most of what we use in the US is imported from Russia and China.

Bad news on all fronts for continued inflation and coming shortages…

[clanter]

@Dressage_Redneck

Abilene, Texas

Abilene has been having pretty decent weather, rain every other week however has been hot this last week which is not unexpected this time of the year

[SLW]

Last night after I started this thread my FB lit up with hay being available in the fields today for $5 to $6 a bale. That’s within last years fees though I don’t know the size and weight of the bales.

Meanwhile the new guy I’m using has been in touch today and he’s baling this week. The cost will be $8 a bale.