Texas hay stuff

[Tamara_in_TN]

This WILL be an odd posting w/in the context of the Hay Forum but perhaps the Mods will understand it’s meaning and allow it or place it where it is more appropriate or even cross post?

We have been covered up in calls and emails for hay to TX. Some very frantic and sad to say the least.

We have crunched lots of numbers for Tx and Ok hay sales. The only way we can do this is to have people come here and get it or to send trucks on their behalf.

The freight is CRAZY and that is part of the equation we cannot control.

Also,beware,we have had calls from a number of the “gooseneck cowboy haulers” who are asking pointedly for the cheapest hay we have to take to TX to resell.

The cheapest hay we have needs to stay right here (locally) and not have $2000 in shipping attached to it,to end up with a disappointed final consumer.

thanks

Tamara

[Tamara_in_TN]

thank you

[carol_okc]

Tamara - I think you know about our hay co-op effort here in Ok (and Tx and…). This is about to drive me nuts, in part because of the logistics involved (ie: suppliers and truckers want to be paid, and buyers want to see it first before paying) and the stress level of so many people who are frantic. I wish I knew a solution - but so far no one, no organization, seems to want to get involved in helping find those solutions. I’ve written to AHC, USEF, our breed organization, the OK Horse Industry Council, etc… with virtually no response. And just between Texas and Ok, there are over a million horses at risk. I’ve even had the cattlemen calling me, after seeing the news segment I did 3 weeks ago.

Local prices, when you can even FIND hay, have better than doubled already. I’m currently trying to work out a haul for a small load (33’) coming out of western Ky, tested 18% orchard/alfalfa 2nd cutting, and if it’s NICE some people might be willing to risk a 2nd load. But I’ve got to take money out of my retirement funds to get that first load here. What’s a person to do when there is so much distrust and so many people willing to take advantage of a desperate situation?

[MeghanDACVA]

We do our own hay, here in OK. We round bale only and do it mostly for us and contract with another person to buy what we don’t need. In a normal year we will get about 200 bales. This year we got 75. It costs as much to put up 75 bales as it does 200 bales. Makes each of the 75 this year cost 3 times more than they did last year. And that is without any freight attached.

For those you who don’t buy diesel fuel, it is almost $4/gallon. Tractors run on diesel. Trucks used to deliver/haul the hay use diesel. Tires and grease are petroleum based.

I too wish there was good, and inexpensive, solution. But it costs what it costs, which is not chicken feed now, even if you take time and labor out of the equation.

And, no, we don’t have any hay for sale.

[carol_okc]

Yup, I understand! that’s one reason we’re looking well beyond adjoining states to areas where hay is still abundant, knowing that we’ll have to pay a chunk in transport. Several years ago, when there was another less severe drought which ‘rolled’ more than this one has, a lot of the dealers bought up local hay to move to Texas, then bought up more to replace what they took out of here, and on and on… My regular grower sold his entire stock of hay to a dealer and that left his regular customers high and dry. He was happy, I’m sure… except that his regular customers found other sources and we never went back.
I don’t want to be a party to that kind of treatment. We didn’t like it being done to us then, and I’ll be darned if I’ll risk doing it to someone else.

[Tamara_in_TN]

[QUOTE=carol_okc;5776821]
What’s a person to do when there is so much distrust and so many people willing to take advantage of a desperate situation?[/QUOTE]

well I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but,welcome to every day of the last 15 years of our world.

WE have to pay for every load that we resell and we resell it to people we hope are asking for the same hay we are selling.

And we already have the investment in the hay that we have grown ourselves…over a year by harvest time.

If you think one load is bad, try to “tote the note” for 10-15 loads at a time as we do.

To do all the work, to then hear someone crying about "they just don’t “rel-ish” it, can you come get it? ".:mad:

the hay dealers,growers are extremely wary of the TX/OK folks because it is very easy for really really nice people to do really stupid things when they are frantic.

We saw it in 2008 and after Katrina in our own customers and they are much much more wary of horse people…as I told you on the phone.

One grower in WY told C. point blank today that he did not want to send any hay to TX,though lots of his neighbors were,as he did not know them “from Adam”

Another guy (the one that sold us the hay covered in coon poop such that it looked like a giant toll house cookie) said “I knew I shoulda sent it to OK…those people will buy anything”

but welcome to why feed stores mark it up…so you guys as the end consumers don’t have to see any of the background drama.

Tamara

[Jo]

I was actually just discussing this with my husband, who manages a truck brokerage branch of a major company. He said that he got a call the other day for someone trying to buy hay out of TN - and no one would cover the load. He said it is one of the most expensive routes and even if we went north, transporting a truck load would cost at least $3k. I thought I had a transportation “in” if I needed to get hay from out of state, but I guess not!

[Tamara_in_TN]

yes we use a local (middle tennessee) based freight company called Huff and Puff (I kid you not) and they haul to us all the time…but they are “local” to us and not sort of floating around looking for loads

Tamara