Rant - Hay prices availability

Steve Suesens · Aug 19, 2011

North Texas drought continues with no relief in sight. Hay prices are sky rocketing (if you can find it). There is a sence of panic and everyone is scrambling to prepare for the winter. People are trucking in semi-loads from all over the US. Our local feed store has round bales for $150 ea.(same hay they were selling 2 weeks ago for $75). I understand supply & demand, but could this be considered price gouging? What are you paying for hay in your area?

Fordfarmer · Aug 19, 2011

That does seem like gouging, but I suppose it partly depends on what they have in it for trucking. Lots of hay available in WI, though a lot of it is not the greatest - either rained on or too mature. I've been getting $45/bale for 5'x6' net wrapped rounds of 1st crop mixed grass - no rain, but cut late/mature. (still decent beef hay, but not worth feeding to my dairy cows)

kyhayman · Aug 19, 2011

Hay is short all over, or appears to be. I"m selling inside stored 4x5 rounds of grass hay, suitable for horses for 40 right now. I"ve been loading trucks from as far as Texas and Florida. All the hay fields that got planted in corn plus the drought in your area have been a game changer. As to price gouging, that depends on what they are paying for it.

Allan in NE · Aug 19, 2011

Yeah,

If I had any sense at all, I'd sell these cows and ship the hay your way.

Continual line of semis here heading south.

Overheard my neighbor selling hay for $60 ton.

Allan

Country Nate · Aug 19, 2011

Good greif. Come up to NW PA you can get all the round bales you want off craigslist for $20 each.

Casey in Ky · Aug 19, 2011

At those prices, get you a truck, and come to Kentucky. Even at $4 a gallon fuel to get here back you"re gonna come out way ahead. Mixed square bales are between $2 and $2.50 a bale here. Good clean mixed rolled hay is $15 to $20 roll for 4x4, 4x5"s are running $20 to $25. I could put into 2 or 3 thousand small sqaures for around $2.50 a bale. Good clean hay...

Casey in Ky · Aug 19, 2011

Her's a few links...

http://lexington.craigslist.org/grd/2553254664.html

http://lexington.craigslist.org/grd/2552961810.html

http://lexington.craigslist.org/grd/2546035820.html

http://eastky.craigslist.org/grd/2553097529.html

http://eastky.craigslist.org/grd/2524726089.html

http://eastky.craigslist.org/grd/2483942320.html

oldtanker · Aug 19, 2011

Hay is pretty cheap this year here in West MN. Kinda makes me feel like a fool. Just restarting the family farm. This is my first year putting up hay. For what I've spent on a baler and haybine I would have been money ahead buying hay. Never mine the cost of planting some. But I think in a few years everyone is going to be short on hay. Many guys in our area who raise hay have have cut it down to a bare minimum for their needs. We get a dry year and hay is going to be worth gold. A friend went from grain/dairy to grain/feeders and from 200 acres of hay to 30. He had hay to sell every year......not anymore.

Rick

LAA · Aug 19, 2011

If you are in North Texas you should be able to get hay trucked in from any number of states cheaper than that, cotton seed hulls and cotton burrs are way cheaper than that hay and should be readily available by the semi load.

Billy Shafer · Aug 19, 2011

Not sure about the price. But I have heard some talking about 125.00 for round bales around here. Centerville Texas.

old · Aug 19, 2011

A lot of area did not get the hay crop they get most years so yep price is up. Here in Missouri where I am at we had a spring that was to wet so we could not get in and do the hay. Then when it stopped raining it got to hot and to dry. I put up only about 50 of what I did last year and not sure if there will be a 2nd cutting or not and that cutting may have a lot of weeds in it but any hay is better then no hay. And another thing that will hurt me this year is my best customer is getting his place foreclosed on so he will not be buying hay this year. My hay prices will be up by 50% of what it was last year

James Howell · Aug 19, 2011

Sold 4x5 round bales of Bahia mix for $35 each to a community neighbor.

Our farm is located in NE Texas near Mt. Pleasant, TX.

Old Roy · Aug 19, 2011

I figured this would happen.
Now I suspect when things settle back to semi normal, We will feel the impact of the beef farmers down there when they decide to restart what they have sold out . And the food we lost in grains and fruits will climb in prices as well. Looking for a mass buy out as everyone will panic.

Just hasn't hit the media yet, They are the ones that control prices in an indirect way. all they have to do is yell Boo!

Billy Shafer · Aug 19, 2011

We have hay convoys coming through here all the time. Seen them lined up at the stop light downtown all the time.

oleclint · Aug 19, 2011

James , you are to be commended, selling your hay to a neighbor for a reasonable price. He will remember you for a long time.

dhermesc · Aug 19, 2011

With freight costs hay shipped from North Kansas (and other areas that have hay to sell) may very well be priced "reasonable" at $150 a bale. I know earlier this summer my brother looked into shipping to Texas and he couldn't make it worth his while after he paid his fuel costs - and that was with big square bales. To get hay from areas that haven't been affected by the dought it has to spend a lot of time on the back of a truck.

TMo · Aug 19, 2011

I know a guy that is paying $75 a ton for hay and shipping is $90 a ton on top of that. It is coming from the northern part of the country.

Anonymous-0 · Aug 19, 2011

For the amount that is needed there seems it would make sense to organize rail shippment.

Ken Macfarlane · Aug 19, 2011

4x4 rounds 15$
4x5 rounds 20$
Small square bales 40-50 lb - 1.50 to 3.00$

Neighbour sold her last years 4x5 rounds at 5$ each as she couldn't get rid of them. Her balage didn't sell either and got dumped in the woods.

Howard H. · Aug 19, 2011

Yep - sitting in a restaurant in Guymon OK alongside highway 54 yesterday eating lunch - there was a constant stream of semis hauling hay coming in...

A lot of it was probably headed on south to Amarillo, etc...

We've had a little rain in the past week and it got cooler for a while, but most places got less than 3/10s altogether & it is back up near 100s now...

Howard

James Howell · Aug 19, 2011

This is the second year my community neighbor, Danny Ray, has bought hay from me.

One day he was visiting with his older sister, Sister Pleasant, that lives next to our hay meadow.

Said he had never seen two people work so hard and so long on improving a hay meadow.

Asked if our Coastal Bermuda was for sale, but had to say no because the Coastal is Nancy"s hay.

Took him across the road and showed him two of our Bahia fields.

Told him would sell second cutting 4x5 bales for $15 per bale on one field and first cutting 4x5 bales for $10 per bale on the second field.

Put in an order with me last Fall for 40 bales.

Needless to say we may only get <sup>1</sup>/<sub>3</sub> of our hay production this year.

He stopped by Tuesday night while I was raking hay in "the bottom" and asked if it was for sale.

Told him "This is your hay that I"m raking".

We walked a couple of wind rows and he was well pleased with the hay.

We mow the fields to keep the property clean.

The hay is only a bi-product and helps "justify" owning several antique JD tractors.

Jerry/MT · Aug 19, 2011

With grain prices at historic levels, a lot of hay ground in the NW is in grain this year. The old law of "supply and demand" says hay prices should go up.

A neighbor has a quarter section of alfalfa that he has a contract for @ $160/T in large squares if it meets the spec value for RFV. I bought some alfalfa/grass mix for $90/T in net wrapped round bales. The same hay was $80/T last year. The only thing keeping local prices down a bit is that we had a record snow pack and it been a good grass year so our fall pasture should last a while, decreasing the need to buy a large ammount of hay. But you can never trust Mother Nature to be benign so I have more hay then I need because we could have another fierce winter like we had last year. If we don"t, I"ll be selling my excess in February at $140/T when all the gamblers run out of hay. If we have amild winter i"ll feed it early next year to the drys.

John A. · Aug 19, 2011

Guys!, Problem is also that trucking is $4.00+/ mile both directions since there is no back haul.
Here in South Central Texas prices are
$100/roll on cow hay
$150/ roll on Horse quality hay
Go figure!
Lampasas, TX sale barn was loaded up with large # of older cattle Wednesday, though I haven't hear the exact # yet. From the road looked like a Lot!! of younger Mommas that should have been going back to the country, but probably went to the packers!
Later,
John A.

paul · Aug 19, 2011

Hay is cheap here in southern MN like always - but had a tough spring, 1st cutting is going to be over ripe, grass or alfalfa from all the endless rain. The only guys that got it done on time wrap the bales.

Might end up showing a little short here by next February then, as folk realize there is a shortage of good hay.

Lot of bits & pieces have gone into corn/soybeans the past 3 years, as grain prices went up.

Feel for those of you in the drought, difficult to work with nothing to say the least.

--->Paul

Nancy Howell · Aug 19, 2011

Two weeks ago, the feed store I use in Dallas had rounds at $125.00, prolly more now.

Also bought 4 squares from TSC for $9.00 ea. They said it was prolly the last load they would be able to get.

Luckily, I didn't sell the hay I had left over from last year. That and the 10 bales we got off the coastal field (last year we got 60) I'll make it through the winter if I'm stingy with it.

There is some rain in the 10 day forecast for the farm, but its too far out in the forecast to be anywhere near a sure thing.

NEBeef · Aug 19, 2011

It's called capitalism - get used to it. Remember, it's a good thing in the long run...

At some point it might be cheaper to truck the cattle to where the hay is, rather than truck to hay to where the cattle are.

Absent Minded Farmer · Aug 19, 2011

I didn't get a chance to read everybodys post, so I might be missing something. Is everyone saying that there hasn't been a box car load of hay sent down for relief? All trucked in, huh? I can't imagine it would be that difficult to wrangle up a couple of 50'ers, pack them full of hay & kick 'em south. Why has this not been done yet? Cut those poor people & their emaciated critters some slack!

Mike

Anonymous-0 · Aug 19, 2011

It's called kick your brother while he's down.....Right up there with doubling the price of water and food in a crisis and flashlights in a blackout....... It all comes back sooner or later tho......

Anonymous-0 · Aug 19, 2011

I remember the last time the southeaster US was in this
predicament and all the politicians and the media hollered for hay
producers to send free hay south. There was no mention of city
people kicking in to help pay the producers for the hay. He has to
buy the fuel, wire, help, taxes etc. to produce the hay. This is
called "keep the hurt on the farm". When hay is plentiful and the
price goes in the tank do the buyers pay extra to help the guy who
makes it or do they take advantage of the low prices?

dcarp · Aug 19, 2011

I couldn't find any hay under $120 for 4x5 bale of ?.
Have an order in for 42 bales of rice straw, crossing my fingers it comes in. Taking it to feed mill, will grind it, mix with corn glutin, DDG, molasses and few other necessary things. This has to do for hay & feed for my cows till spring.
I would sell out but I'm too stubborn and I would rather pay to feed the cows than pay the IRS. Besides wouldn't sell registered Brangus bull I have for less than $10,000 and right now would probably get 70 cents a lb if I was lucky.

jordan watson · Aug 19, 2011

Cow hay in NE alabama is 20-30 4x5 roll and horse hay is about 30-40 a roll. My dad and I should have about 100-200 rolls extra this year and we were thinking about trying to send some to texas but we dont know how to go about it, any info would be nice.

jm. · Aug 19, 2011

I have a drop deck going empty from Middle Tennessee to Ft Smith Ark next week, Guess I need to get me a load of round bales and roun on over in to Texas. Round bales of good hay $ 20 to $ 25.oo here in Middle Tenn.

torwood9 · Aug 19, 2011

I just got a call from a guy in Texas looking for hay. Being that I live in WI, I was a little skeptical, but turns out that his grand-kids live only a half hour from here and he was scouring Craigslist looking for hay to take back to TX. Like said before, lot of WI hay, mine included was a little more mature than I was hoping for due to weather, but I will take that over the other hardships in weather any day.

Tx Jim · Aug 20, 2011

(quoted from post at 13:09:22 08/19/11) This is the second year my community neighbor, Danny Ray, has bought hay from me.
Told him would sell second cutting 4x5 bales for $15 per bale on one field and first cutting 4x5 bales for $10 per bale on the second field./quote]

James
Is this Bahia hay fertilized? If so I can't see how $15 will cover the cost.

TomA in CA · Aug 20, 2011

Out here in California Alfalfa hay is going for $240 to $290 per ton. We were offered fair alfalfa for $240 per ton for a 80 bale retriever load plus $130 delivery. We are going to hold out and see if prices drop a bit. We are paying $17.50 per bale (3 string) at the feed store right now. I am glad we sold half the cattle.

Hay_Man · Aug 20, 2011

Can you remember the drought in the Southeastern States about 2007 - 2008? Georgia, Alabama, Florida, N. Carolina, S. Carolina, Tenn. I hauled Gooseneck loads to all those states 23 rolls per load. We had lots of rain that year, but they didn't. They were in a real bad bind. I bought a brand new Dodge 1-ton and commenced hauling. Did 2 loads per week. Had the customers lined up ahead of time. Got $75.00 - $85.00 per roll, delivered. 4X5 rolls, about 1000 lbs. ea. Fertilized Coastal Bermuda Hay. The market was saturated here, I was getting what I had in it, trucking and all. Made several trips up Clinch Mountain in Tenn. Took lots to S. Carolina. Was about 1800 mile round trip. I just didn't want to see the hay go to waste. This was in Alabama one night. Got fast at changing blown out tires:

Hay_Man · Aug 21, 2011

I picked a place I know that is stockpiling hay trucked in from 800 miles away, because they can't find hay any closer for the price. They sell 4x5 rolls of fertilized grass hay for $180.00 per roll. Let's guess it weighs 1000 lbs. Normal times would go for $40.00 per roll. Are they a hay gouger? Looks like it at first glance......BUT:

Freight cost: 800 miles deliver 800 miles return trip @ $4.00 per mile =

$6400.00 for 42 rolls = $152.38 per roll (Just freight charges.) Seller was selling the hay for $25.00 per roll. 42 X $25.00 = $1050.00
Freight $152.38 + Cost of Hay $25.00 = $177.38.

Now where is the gouging taking place? Could it be the Trucker? Is there an organized price fixing going on? Truckers conspiring to fix the price of hauling the freight at an unreasonably high price? Sure isn't the hay seller or the reseller. If the trucker gets a back haul, he still keeps the $3200.00 from the customer and gets mice twice. Or if he's coming down to Texas to pick up a load to go somewhere else, he just made $3200.00 for his deadhead trip. Good for him, bad for poor cow owner just trying to keep his cows alive. I can see where freight prices need to go up because of the cost of operating a truck has gone up, but has the freight prices gone up too much in this case?

Rant - Hay prices availability

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