stockdogranch Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I realize many of you are grazing now, and may not be in the hay-buying market, but here we are running out of graze, and so hay buying is imminent. I'm just curious what prices are doing elsewhere in the country...I have a load of alfalfa coming in the next week (not fancy stuff, what they call "cow hay" out here) for $142/ton. Way better than last year!! A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Meier Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 We got lucky last month and brought in some 1800 round bales, fair quality alfalfa/grass mix for $60.00 a bale, we only had to go about 20 miles to pick it up. But, I don't know that we are going to get so lucky again, last week small squares were going for $4.00 a bale for grass up and over $6.00 for nice green alfalfa, the hay markets are claiming that supply is getting real tight and people are running out. I know to other parts of the country that seems low, but for around here that's nearly double normal prices. Pastures are coming, but slow, we just had 5 inches of rain yesterday/today, but only in the high 40's-low 50's, I coulda swore I saw snow flying today, we need more heat. Last week I started taking the sheep and one of the ponies out to the road ditches with the dogs to graze and to browse the corn fields until they get planted, I hate to do it, the corn fields are really tough on the dogs this time of year, and now they are all mud. I'm trying to save what hay we have for the horses until the pastures get going enough to take over, but I don't think we're going to make it. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsnrs Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 We are in AZ and paid $10/bale (3 string) last year for the last cutting. Don't know what it will be this year as we still have some left. N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokjbc Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I realize many of you are grazing now, and may not be in the hay-buying market, but here we are running out of graze, and so hay buying is imminent. I'm just curious what prices are doing elsewhere in the country...I have a load of alfalfa coming in the next week (not fancy stuff, what they call "cow hay" out here) for $142/ton. Way better than last year!! A I pay $13.50/bale for three string, good quality alfalfa. Down from $16-18 a bale it got too last winter/summer. Still WAY too much, but with fewer ewes this year, it's a lot easier on the pay check than last lambing season. At one point- the feed stores kept running out of hay, I was paying $18 for straight grass that was so loose and blew everywhere (I have good feeders too) that 1/4 or so was wasted. I was VERY grumpy about sheep in general last year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stockdogranch Posted April 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 last week small squares were going for $4.00 a bale for grass up and over $6.00 for nice green alfalfa, How much do those bales weigh? A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthfieldNick Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Last year, I paid $4/bale for 50-60Lb local grass hay, which has the nutrient content of cardboard- I buy it for the horses when it gets cold since I have no shelter for them. We paid $350/ton for good Eastern WA timothy hay, but that price includes delivery, which involves a lengthy ferry ride. The timothy was ungodly expensive, but we don't have to feed as much of it as we did with the orchard grass we had last year. This year, I went to alfalfa pellets for the sheep. I can get organic pellets, delivered, for $825/1.5 metric tonnes (it comes from Canada), that's 3,300 Lbs. Combined with some half-way decent hay and stockpiled pasture, my ewes looked great on about 1 Lb/head/day and the overwintered market lambs (ie, born the previous Feb) on 2 Lbs/head/day. The pellets also take up MUCH less room than the hay storage! Edited because I can not type tonight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 We are paying $50 for big round bales, but I admit I'd have to ask Ed just how big they are. Our pastures just haven't taken off growing this year, although the lawn sure has. With recent warm days and suitable moisture in the soil, we should be practically done feeding hay. This has been the latest in the spring that we have ever had to feed hay here in WV (usually done by April 15 at the latest) but we had a poor hay crop last year due to drought, and our cattle numbers were up this winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I'm fortunate that I haven't had to feed hay since March 25 this year, as the ewes have been grazing an fall-seeded crop of triticale and Austrian winter peas until permanent pasture became available. I paid $60 for some pretty small round bales of grass/clover balage this winter. I won't be going back to that supplier again this year, as I was disappointed in both quantity and quality of the balage. When that stuff ran out, I was able to buy some much larger, better quality balage for $50, but there were only a few bales available. Next winter, I hope to be feeding balage made from Italian ryegrass and red clover that I'll be planting later this week. Should get the feed cost down to >$30 per bale, including machine time and seeding. (These are 4x4 round bales with about 500 to 800 pounds of dry matter, so they'd be equivalent to 750 to 1,000 pounds of hay.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Meier Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 How much do those bales weigh?A Two string kickers, sometimes your lucky to get 50 lbs, other might be as light as 35 lbs, we try to pick ones up that average 40-45. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stockdogranch Posted April 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 It always amazes me how much it varies across the country. I've been grazing since just after the first of the year, and will need to be feeding again by the first of June at the latest, probably a week or so sooner. I'm just glad that what I'm paying this year is half what I had to pay last year A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 I will be buying small squares (maybe 40 pounds) of mixed grass hay out of the field today for $2.75/bale. The round bales of mixed grass (probably mostly fescue as that's the predominant hay around here) I bought last summer for feeding this winter were $40 for a 4 or 5 x 6 bale. I could get 4 x 4 grass bales for $28-30. The last round bale I put out about 3 weeks ago is still sitting there half eaten as the grass is coming in and the sheep have pretty much abandoned the hay. (I am buying the square bales because I have some new sheep coming in that will have to stay in the quarantine paddock for a while, so will need hay as I doubt the grass there will last them.) J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Bo Boop Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 Ughh, don't ask ;-( If someone had told me that I'd ever be paying $8 for a bale of Coastal, I'd have told them fat chance ;-( the drought and fuel costs have really jacked up our hay prices. If you're lucky the coastal bales weigh in at around 50 lbs...Alfalfa, which has to be trucked in (B beatles in locally grown aflfalfa) runs about $13-14 a bale, thats two strand, 50-60lb bales. We've recently got a good amount of rain, 7 1/2 inches in the last 10 days...so maybe things will drop a little. At least with the rain, I'm getting a little grass in my pasture now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 $100/ton. Can't type - eye surgery today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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