Are Hay Prices This Low Everywhere?

[talent06]

Sunday we went and bought hay. We got really really nice alfalfa grass hay for $120 a ton. No weeds, nice and green and leafy, smelled good. *sigh*I love the smell of good hay:p Hay has been really cheap over here (central washington) lately. Last winter we were paying $220 a ton for nice alfalfa. Are the hay prices like this all over the country or is it just over here?

[Painted Horse]

I paid $85 a ton for my Alfalfa in September. It came in 1300lb bales. Which is fine with me.
The grass hay that I bought in June cost me $110 a ton. in the midsized bales.

So yes hay is a lot cheaper this year than last. Several reason.
Fuel to run the haying equipment and transport it, was in the low $2 this summer vs the near $4 two years ago. So it doesn't cost as much to produce the hay.

And the main reason is that the dairy farmers are reducing their herds. Dairy farmers are loosing about $12 month per cow right now. So they are getting rid of cows. As dairy farmers reduce their herds they don't need as much hay, As they sell their dairy cows, they have flooded the beef market, which has also has taken the profit out of beef, so the beef farmers have cut back the number of cows they are feeding. You take several hundred thousand cows out of production and all of a sudden their is a lot of hay left over.

[WashingtonBay]

It was a great hay season in WA, with much lower gas prices than last year. Our hay in Western WA is also cheaper than last year, though not as cheap as Eastern WA, we do have to truck it to this side, after all :)

[cloedoll]

Well, hay has always been cheap for me, BUT I'm glad you guys are getting good deals! :)

[3equines]

locally, a dry summer helped drop the price, among other factors mentioned. Up here the locals still want too much for grass hay, in my opinion. We're still seeing $6 and $8 for 80-pound bales of dry, mixed grass, which is about $200 a ton, and $10 to $12 a bale for orchard grass/timothy hay, which is around $250 a ton.

My BF has excellent, soft, green, sweet grass hay from the Wilamette valley in Oregon for $120 a ton. Needless to say, he is running hay up here to me.... think I will keep him:innocent:. I still keep some of the local grass hay around because the Haflingers do better on it, less nutrients so I can keep their weight down while keeping their bellies full.

SOMEDAY my boyfriend and I will have a farm in Wallowa County, Oregon where we can grow 3 or 4 cuttings of hay on a small field in one summer. Or buy it locally for $75 to $100 a ton.

[offgridgirl]

Hay prices are outrageous here..$275+. Dry summer and high fuel prices didn't help. Some of the local grain stores bring it from Western Washington at about $300. It's all orchard grass and alfalfa mix. I can't afford that and one of the horses can't eat the alfalfa,so....

I'm glad I bought all I need off the field for the year...:)

[Palogal]

Hay was pretty reasonable in Texas too. The problem is coming now since all the rain came it's almost too much. I'm hoping the hay dudes can get another cut in before it gets really cold.

[zoel_222]

I haven't bought any '09 hay yet, but earlier this summer just before hay season I bought a bunch of really nice quality '08 orchard and timothy for $150 a ton, and winter of '08 I had bought alfalfa for $240 a ton. My hay guy said the prices were going to drop dramatically this year. I'm getting hay next week so I'm curious is to how low they're really gonna go.

[PaintedDreamer_0110]

Hey could I ask you where you bought it at? We will be in the market for hay here pretty soon. I only live like 20 minutes from moses lake :)

[talent06]

Hey could I ask you where you bought it at? We will be in the market for hay here pretty soon. I only live like 20 minutes from moses lake :)
Larry Fitch
509-765-5500

He's really old (89), and he's kind of hard to understand on the phone. I can give you directions to his place if you cant understand his.

[AUEquine]

Jeeze ya'll are lucky. Alfalfa hay her is over $15 per BALE!!!! Most of it is $20 per bale, that is if you can find it! We mostly all feed coastal here and our squares this year were $4.50/bale, and that's with us getting them out of the field ourselves. And our Large Rounds of coastal were $65.
Due to availability we're forced to feed crap hay (coastal), and still pay an arm and a leg for it!

[PaintedDreamer_0110]

Larry Fitch
509-765-5500

He's really old (89), and he's kind of hard to understand on the phone. I can give you directions to his place if you cant understand his.

Thanks :)

[Painted Horse]

That's part of the equation AUEquine. Alfalfa is a desert plant. It sends down deep roots and doesn't need frequent watering. It likes the heat. It also tends to prefer alkaline soils vs acid soils. So it grows well in the western states. Grass hays on the other hand, prefer the cooler spring temps and like the moisture. So in my area we get 1-2 cuttings of grass vs 3-4 cuttings of Alfalfa. It also produces more tons per cutting than grass. So Alfalfa should be cheaper for us.

By time they transport the alfalfa back east for you folks, You add the handling & transport fees, it should cost more. And then the fact that it's just not as plentifull adds to the cost.

I pay more for grass hay and prefer to feed it to my horses most of the year. But when it gets cold ( 11* this morning) I like to give the horses the alfalfa. So as we transition from warmer fall temps in October to colder winter temps in December, I slowly increase the amount of alfalfa the horses get. I'm not a dietary expert. But from what I've read and heard. Alfalfa keeps the livestock warmer in cold weather. It has more calories per pound than grass hay and it produces more heat in the hind gut as it ferments as part of the digestion process.