Can you send them to Western NC? 
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Ha! Iām an old lady now but years ago I hired a new farrier. I was probably about 30. He looked like a poster for young strong amazing country man. I think he was 21 or so. After he trimmed my herd he asked if he could use my hose. I said of course let me go pay you. It was upper 90ās and sweltering. I rounded the corner of the barn to hand him a check as he stood shirtless hosing off his chest. Cue time to slow motion. I swear Iām not a pervert but my stars. It was surreal.
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Boy you sure arenāt in Alabama! Donāt have either of those options here. I wish I did.
I texted my hay guy, and asked when they would be doing second cutting grass. Also asked pricing. Looks like I will be paying $1.50 more this year, but that includes it being delivered and stacked. The hay is lovely, and they have been good to me for some years, so I am hoping to stay lucky with them.
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Cue time to slow motion. Iām laughing over here. Next year Iām getting their picture and will post. Iāll ask them if itās ok. These kids were truly drop dead gorgeous.
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Sadly my āhay guysā consist of my DH who resembles Fat Thorā but not at all like Chris Hemsworth but for the belly, and my two nephews who are both cute but bean poles and I donāt want to see them shirtless. Cuzā¦ eww!
If only a hot hay guy helped me because it would take my mind off how much Iām paying for my hay!!
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We had 2 young guys who delivered/ unloaded hay at our BB on occasion when the BO bought hay from their supplier.
2 of the most gorgeous guys I have ever seen ( before or since) at least I was young and could appreciate the view.
Now it would be wasted on me.
Hay prices are all over the map here. Guess it depends on who is selling. All I know is that we are crispy and pastures are about gone now. If we donāt get rain really soon it may get ugly if you are buying. No second cuttings unless you are in the Northern part of the state.
I still see hay sitting so maybe people are waiting to see what happens??
We need rain desperately.
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So far the hay prices that I have been told from friends for square bale bermuda alicia or jiggs is $8.50 - $9. Last year it was $5-6 per bale.
I have two hay suppliers. One is only doing round bales this year because the cost of squares is just too much (extra labor). Other one has not given me a price yet but I am expecting $9-10 per bale loading it ourselves from the barn.
We just got the price from our hay supplier for the load comingā¦same farm we got the hay from last year. Iām in NJ, but the hay broker is NY basedā¦we use them because they unload and stack as part of the cost (itās gotten too hard to find older kids who want to work for a day around here). Mix of grass/timothy/alfalfa (probably only 20-30% alfalfa)ā¦but itās nice and clean and my horses arenāt wasting it like they did the timothy from the year before. Last year we paid $380 per tonā¦this year itās $475 a ton. Good thing we are down to just the 3 horses!
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Picked up my local grass hay today. 180 bales, $15/bale, 65# bales. $2700 for the year. But, he grows for me and I am guaranteed hay, so I am not complaining in the least.
One of our huge hay suppliers in this county announced a couple of days ago that they wonāt be doing square bales this year, leaving a whole lot of people scrambling.
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Alfalfa here is 327/ton.
my own pasture hay is going to be about 50/ton. And it is not going to be very good as my hay guy has YET to appear and everything out in the hay fields is dehydrated on the stem by now. Good news is i have about 80 bales left over from last year, bad new is itās last years! But, for cows and sheep (who get alfalfa too when it gets really cold) it will be fine.
Yes, a friend just drove out of state to pick up a large enclosed trailer load of alfalfa from the field for $8/bale. Farmer advertised on Facebook straight to the consumer. Meanwhile the local hay store is charging $27+ and telling all their customers there is a shortage. Itās starting to smell like shenanigans. I think our BO will buy all the rest that famer has and will pay staff and their friends to go get it. A years supply at less than half price even with shipping and labor!
Same with shipping, just got a quote for a long ship and the prices varied from $1250-$4500, all from shippers my friends recommend or I have used. The higher prices come with a fuel surcharge fee and explanation that it is due to fuel but the price of fuel is not triple what it was last year?? There never used to be this much difference in shipping prices, I think people are charging what they can get and making a lot of $$.
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And now we have a ton of lighting-caused wildfires here in Oregon. All I could think last night was āplease donāt let it burn up the hayā. I got one load Monday, first cut Orchard, $565/ton. I need a couple more.
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@Obsidian_Fire
Picking up my hay today from the brokerās sheds-- $500/ton, up from the $480 he quoted me. Going to have to ask him about that! I have to say, I am wondering at the āfingers on the scaleā pricing for hay at retail places. I know growers arenāt getting that $500/ton and there are costs for each person how ātouchesā that product from field to consumer, but everyone is taking a bite and the consumer is really feeling the pinch. I suspect there might be lots of 2022 hay left in growerās and brokerās sheds come May and June.
Being able to beg or borrow a flatbed trailer and get oneās own hay directly is a cost-cutter. I am deeply grateful to my trainer for loaning me her big gooseneck today so I can grab all 6 tons at once. My hay crew will unload it in about 1.5 hours into my barn. I am grateful I donāt have to add $100/ton to have it delivered and stacked. If you know anyone who has teens or coaches a sport locally or if you have a local FB page, asking for hay help there can really save you $$.
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If you and I were closer Iād go in on loads with you; cost share the hay crew and all.
My BO is trying to figure out how to get a semi load in. Broker has told her he canāt get the truck turned around (not enough room) but she is not listening. SMH.
Iām considering this myself. Iād have to arrange for a skid steer and unload on the road. Doable do to living at the end of a dead end road but not ideal.
@Turntable, have you priced diesel lately? Not quit triple last yearās price, but more than doubled and almost never reduced back lower, like gas has been recently. So I can see shipping being very high to move hay. Then add in vehicle costs (also increased) of maintenance, mechanic, tires (all 10 on the tractor with another 8 on trailer), driver, so it really adds up to take a semi down the road.
An option for people without borrowing trailer options, is to rent a truck, trailers from Uhaul or Ryder type places. They have closed boxes to go get your hay from farmers. Not cheap either, but a method of moving hay when you find ādeals.ā Hoping total is still less than buying retail.
These $$ numbers per ton are astronomical!!
Sounds mean, but I NEVER lend out my truck and the horse or flatbed trailer. Truck is big, 2 ton cab-over, not a pickup most horse ladies are used to. Too expensive to chance damaging it. It drives VERY differently than a pickup, needs a Commercial drivers license endorsement. Gets 18mph, so not very economical either.
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I heard there was a drought last year? Glad weather seems to favorable this year. Iām waiting until late September to buy more so itās not as humid. Maybe thatās too late?
Weāre in Southern NM, alfalfa is now $25 per 100 lb bale; itās grown about 15 minutes from the feed store and the feed store owner manages the hay fields where it comes from.
For years, weāve been getting most of our hay out of the field from the same producer, 100 bales a load He and his son (and sometimes an extra guy) stack it on our trailer as we drive slowly through the field. My husband and I stack it in our small hay shed at home.
Weāve always tried to hang on until second cutting, then also pick up a load of his third cutting, and usually had to feed hay bought from an area feed store during late winter/early spring, since we have a limited amount of hay storage (100 bales in our shed is easy, 125 is more difficult, at 140 itās like popping a champagne cork to pull a bale from a new row).
This producer has always been good to us, offering to store a load for us on our flatbed if we were unable to come out when the hay was ready, and his price has been steady at $6 a bale in the field/$7 each in the barn for 55-60# coastal hay bales. But, heās a dryland farmer and thereās been no rain this year. Weāve had to continue to buy from a feed store, which supplies good quality hay from irrigated fields, at $13.50 per 50-55# bale. So, weāve gone from a low of under $200/ton to a high of $540/ton.
By the way, a commercial hay producer told me that he likes drought years, since irrigating his fields allows him to closely control the quality of his hay, as compared to rain at inopportune times.
Iām concerned it could get worse ā we can handle the cost increase since weāre only feeding two, but what if thereās eventually no more hay available? I changed my horsesā diet over to a complete feed several weeks ago (gradually, of course), allowing me to cut back some on hay. Iām feeding the lowest recommended amount of this feed, and about 30% or so less of what would be the normal daily 2% body weight of hay, thereby extending our supply. Hay is so high that this is saving a little money, too.
Yesterday, one of my health care providers - who runs cattle along with his dad ā told me he canāt find round bales anywhere. That shortage means cattle producers will sell, and beef prices will go up.
Iād like to add that Iāve owned horses for several decades, with plenty of horse-owning friends, and we all feed coastal (sometimes adding alfalfa as necessary for a specific horse), and Iāve never had problems feeding it, nor has anyone I know of, including when Iāve boarded (a few barns were large establishments with 80 to 90 horses). Itās a mystery to me why it has such a bad reputation elsewhere, according to CoTH ā perhaps a different variety?
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