PureSnowChic
Chillin' with the herd
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Wow you guys are lucky. A small square of STRAW costs $12.50 here and hay is about $16.00!!! 
Higher hay prices ?????
- Thread starter Royd Wood
- Start date
greybeard
Herd Master
A small conventional sq bale of Coastal Bermuda last year was $5 tops. Today--$10-12 everywhere around--providing you can find any at all. Large round bales last year around $50 ea. This year over $100/bale and scarce.
On any given day, I see 5-10 18 wheelers loaded with round bales coming from Ark and La.
I read a c/l ad not long ago where a Texas ranher had a barn full of his own hay for his cattle, and decided it was worth more on the open market so he put it all up for sale and bought rice straw out of La to feed his own cattle, still making a pretty good profit I imagine.
It's almost cost effective to just feed cubed commercial feed instead of buying hay.
My real worry, is that tho droughts come and go, prices rarely ever return all the way back to "normal".
On any given day, I see 5-10 18 wheelers loaded with round bales coming from Ark and La.
I read a c/l ad not long ago where a Texas ranher had a barn full of his own hay for his cattle, and decided it was worth more on the open market so he put it all up for sale and bought rice straw out of La to feed his own cattle, still making a pretty good profit I imagine.
It's almost cost effective to just feed cubed commercial feed instead of buying hay.
My real worry, is that tho droughts come and go, prices rarely ever return all the way back to "normal".
Stubbornhillfarm
Ridin' The Range
Here in southern Maine, we have been paying between $35.00 and $75.00 for a round bale of second cut. The $35.00 bale is small 4ft round and garbage hay. The $75.00 is a 6ft round bail and very nice quality. You can find it at all prices in between. We have no pasture, so we have to purchase hay. We have purchased from several different sources in the past 7 months to try to find decent quality for a fair price. So far, it is the $75.00 bail that is the winner. Currently it last us about 3 weeks.
Currently it last us about 3 weeks.
DonnaBelle
True BYH Addict
Here a big bale of Alfalfa is $300.00. A small square bale of Alfalfa is $16.00.
Texas is in even worse shape, no hay to be found unless it's trucked in.
Most ranchers are selling off their livestock in Texas.
I'm in East Central Oklahoma or "Green Country" and we have had some rain about 2-3 weeks apart. Just enough to keep us green. We are about 10 in. below normal.
DonnaBelle
Texas is in even worse shape, no hay to be found unless it's trucked in.
Most ranchers are selling off their livestock in Texas.
I'm in East Central Oklahoma or "Green Country" and we have had some rain about 2-3 weeks apart. Just enough to keep us green. We are about 10 in. below normal.
DonnaBelle
4bLonghorns
Just born
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here in Texas, we're having the worst drought on record...square bales are a bargain at $10.50 and round bales are going for $110 to $120 per bale. Last year they were $60 per round bale and $6 per square. More drought predicted
Queen Mum
N.E.R.D.
Yep, I'd agree with that, but in Washington where it rains endlessly, a square is 18.00. Although they weigh 4 times as much as a square here in TX. The squares are just LOUSY here.4bLonghorns said:
TigerLilly
Loving the herd life
Earlier this year a regular size bale of coastal hay was going for about $7.50 & a bale that was a little larger was $8.50. Now, they dont even ask which size I want--I get the regular size and it's up to $8.75! Something else I just noticed is that it is not packed as tightly as before...seems like I'm getting less hay for more money!
greybeard
Herd Master
You probably are. Either i turned into Superman in the last couple of months, or a sq bale don't weigh nearly what it used to in some instances....TigerLilly said:
I believe some hay producers have figured out how to "stretch" their fields a bit.
Who knew dead grass could be worth so much?
(we all did--we just hoped it would never come to this)
20kidsonhill
True BYH Addict
We have been paying $5 for a small square bale of an orchard/timothy grass mix(50-55lbs) and 45 for a round bale for the past 3 years. We had a good hay crop this year so luckily it hasn't gone up. I thought it might go down, but with all the other expenses farmers have and fuel prices I guess I should be happy it has stayed the same. Virginia
I did notice, since there was an abundance of hay in our area the bales were bigger this year, I didn't way the last load we got in, but I am pretty sure they were near 65 or 70lb small bales. So far the one I cut open and used had 20 slabs/flakes in it. It was quit a job getting them into the barn and stacking them.
I did notice, since there was an abundance of hay in our area the bales were bigger this year, I didn't way the last load we got in, but I am pretty sure they were near 65 or 70lb small bales. So far the one I cut open and used had 20 slabs/flakes in it. It was quit a job getting them into the barn and stacking them.
