Has it really been a week since I last posted??? Well, with the back to school for the kids and back to work for me it has been a busy time. I have managed to keep riding Harley pretty consistently and he is coming along nicely. I am still in the Hay hunt for this years supply. Usually I have my hay long purchased and put up by now. I was at the feed store last month and ran into the fella I have purchased my hay from for the last 4 years. He was asking me how much I would need this year and my answer was the same as it always is.....100 bales. You see I do not feed hay all summer as I have abundant pasture and the horses stay out pretty much 24/7. So save for the times I take trips or go to shows I really use no hay from May until November. That is one good thing about here in the Midwest, I never had pasture in south land. Anyway, the hay man and I got to talking quality and price, mind you he grows mainly straight alfalfa and it is nice , really nice hay. To nice for Harley as it jets him right up which I do not need. I had basically already decided that I need a more grass mix than what I have been getting and I have been snooping around to find some. When I started purchasing from said hay guy it was $3 a bale for roughly a 55lb bale right off the wagon, I had to sling and stack. UGH! Well last year he doubled the price to $6 and I still had to sling it and stack it. We have had more than our share of rain this year and I have been watching the fields and the cuttings so I am determined I will not overpay this year. I asked him his price this year knowing full well he was ready for the third cutting already. He quoted me $6 a bale....... no way ain't happenin is what I told him. Loved your hay but quite frankly don't need it that bad. So..... begins my search again. I saw a farmer cutting a mixed field just down the road from my house so I stopped and chatted with him. Turns out he raises black Angus and farms as well. He thought he could sell me his hay on third cutting. Hooray! Well now the fun part, how much?
He hemmed and hawed and basically said he would have to see what it was selling for and so on. I looked him straight in the eye and said I will pay $4 a bale for 100 bales stacked in my barn. He thought on it just a second and said...... done, I should be cutting around the third week of August. Now we are talking so this weekend I should have nice green hay put up in my barn for the dreaded winter here.
What is happening in your area with the hay? Are you waiting it out for good price or just stocking when you can?
On other news.....Harley and I are heading to another cattle clinic on Saturday.
I know this clinician from ranch horse shows and am really looking forward to working with him. I promise I will try to rope someone into taking a few pics of us on cattle.
Happy trails.....
5 comments:
I just topped off my hay to get me through September and will have some delivered then. I just payed $4.50 per bale, A 70/30 alfalfa/grass mix. Nice hay for my girls and the same cost for straight alfalfa for my goats! I can only get about 60 bales at time. That's all I have storage for. Good luck finding some!
Just found your blog and I love it!
I got nice hay out of Corydon...know where that is? Just north of Louisville.
$3.75 a bale, but I had to go get it and put it up myself.
I LOVE Brown County and ride there about once a month. 2.5 hrs for me, but so worth it!
Ughhhh...hay prices are awful aren't they? This year, local grass hay is anywhere from $8-12 per bale, and alfalfa is $15-25, but my sister is still getting it from her hay man for $13.
Have fun this weekend with Harley...can't wait for the report!
We are in the opposite end of the hay market. Meaning, we have hay. In fact we have about a semiload of extra hay that we are waiting to sell. Right now the market is saturated here, so we will wait until Winter. Our third crop might sit on our field unused because we can't afford to cut it and not get the money back that we would have to put into fertalizer. The diesel prices for the tractors and fertilizer prices make us have to charge $3.50 a bale (40# 80% alfalfa).
Second cutting is nicer than some of my first cutting so I might sell out my first cutting at a lower price.
I can't believe what some people are getting for their hay!! Amazing.
Well I switched My Boy from Orchard to a less rich but still pricey orchard grass hay right now....they are big 95-100 lb bales though, usually around $17 each. Local grass hay runs around $5 if you pick it up yourself out of the field, or $6-$8.00 if you get it at the feedstore. You are so lucky to not have to feed hay part of the year!
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