Higher hay prices ?????

There is talk of higher hay prices this year around the Southern Ontario area -$4.50 to $5 small and $40 to 45 for rounds whats the price for small squares and round bales going to be in your patch ???????

I won't know till the end of August. That is when our farmers cut their 2nd cut hay. They never give a price until they know what they have. Last year I paid $4.50 per bale for the small square bales. The year before, I paid $6 a bale because it was a bad year for hay and the good stuff was commanding a high price.

Starting to see ads for first cutting, just done. 2.50-3 dollars a bale, doesn't say what kind of hay. Looks like there was plenty of first around here, if you cut before Memorial Day. Usually have more weeds in first, so a bit cheaper than second or third if they can get it.

Kind of damp, with intermittent showers the last few days, so that hay down has gotten pretty wet.

And then there are the folks like our neighbors who NEVER cut and bale first cutting before 4th of July when almost every bit of nutrients are gone. Just seedy, brittle, stemmy bale of weeds by then. Lucky cows. His second cutting is done near Labor Day or later. Same kind of crop. I mean WHY bother to collect that stuff? He bales all around us, though always a bit late on each field. Baling so late is money wasted, these bales are junk with such late cutting.

goodhors said:

And then there are the folks like our neighbors who NEVER cut and bale first cutting before 4th of July when almost every bit of nutrients are gone. Just seedy, brittle, stemmy bale of weeds by then. Lucky cows. His second cutting is done near Labor Day or later. Same kind of crop. I mean WHY bother to collect that stuff? He bales all around us, though always a bit late on each field. Baling so late is money wasted, these bales are junk with such late cutting.

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Is he feeding it as dry cow hay or using it as bedding?

In New England hay is at least $4-5 bale for last year's 1st or 2nd cutting. This year's first is $6 and up.

We felt lucky because yesterday we "scored" some really nice 1st cutting from NY for $5/bale.

Since his herd of black cattle is usually pastured way behind the house, I am not sure of his breeding schedule. There are various ages of young stock in with the cows. Not like the herds where all the calves arrive to be admired at the same time. I think he has over 50 head, various ages, just all black. Not as nice as the adverised Registered Angus across the road. He had a nice bull in there for a while, pricy animal.

He may put these bales out for chewing on, keeping the cattle busy, in cold weather. Cows don't ever look bad, maybe this is "diet" hay to prevent them being fat? Or he could be selling these poor bales.

Just watch them come down the road, cut the fields, and then eventually bale it up in big rounds, to haul away. Some years it get rained on while down, takes longer to get baled. Other years the cut stuff stays dry from start to finish. Just never any "quality" to it, because it is cut so late.

Was a VERY different story when his Father-in-law was living. The older gentleman had a weather predicting knee, and was a real farmer. Those fields got cut early, when no rain was coming. Dried, baled and hauled off in a timely fashion. Got 3 cuttings each year. We used to buy from him then, quality hay when done. Not sure who is running things now, but sure is sloppy timing and a poor product when baled. He PAYS to have the fields sprayed, fertilized, so WHY delay cutting so much? We can't figure it out.

Just one of those little irritating things you watch happen over and over, that easily could be done better. If only they would let US run their lives!! Ha Ha.

Hay prices where I am fluctuate wildly through the year. They are really high in winter and hit a low around mid-July that I wouldn't exactly call low. I live in the middle of a desert where hay doesn't grow, so it is trucked in from out of state. It ranges from $5-$15 for 120 pound bales of alfalfa or bermuda grass. Now that's cow-quality, not the nice stuff. The good bales of alfalfa are really only available through the feed store, and currently are at a low, low price of $12 apiece. :/ I don't know how people afford to feed horses here.

There is talk here also that hay will go up later this year because gas prices are up. I keep calling my dealer to check prices, when it hits the lowest, I'm going to buy enough for a year. Since we don't have much rain, it does store well here, at least.

I've heard stories on our local National Public Radio station saying farmers here, especially in Eastern Washington, pretty much lost their first cuttings due to all the rain and cold we've had. So far we haven't seen higher prices, but we don't buy until July, normally. Our normal hay guy said he'd be keeping prices the same as the last two years ($3/bale for 45-50 lb rectangular bales), but that was a month or so ago, when we didn't think we'd have rain most of May and most of June (so far).

Hay is finally back down to somewhat normal prices here after last summer's drought. I had to pay as high as $8 for square bales and up to $90 for round bales. Could have probably gotten it a little cheaper if I hadn't had a horse to feed as well as the cows. Horse quality is always a little higher. Right now we are down to $60 for round bales and $4.50 for squares in the field.

I pay $10.00 for a bale of coastal hay, I guess it is high but it is the cheapest in the area. :/