How much are you paying for good hay? Can you find good hay?

[jessupfamily]

We are in SW Indiana and are having a really hard time finding good hay and what we have found is outrages!!! We have 4 Nubian/ Alpine goats and they eat about a half a bale a week right now. We usually get alfalfa from the field next door, but with the late freeze and then the drought, there is not much good hay or any hay for that matter. Anyone up north of us know of any hay for cheaper than $8 a bale! ? We used to pay $2.50 a bale.
Amy J.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

That's the way it was around here last year, because of the lack of rain. People were going to Kansas to get hay and selling it here for around $7 - $8 for a small square bale. Large round bales were selling for $50 - $60.

There's a surplus now because we had such a mild summer with plenty of rain. People are having a hard time giving it away.

It's a fickle market...

 

[Chirpy]

It's costing $6-8.00 a bale here. We had a good summer of rain too and had lots of hay around this year, unlike several of the past years. Last year a 65 lb. bale was running around $12.00 a bale by December!

 

[MissPrissy]

Large round bales are selling for $85 here now. I have seen square bales advertised for $14. Some places a few counties away that got good rain this summer and have hay are selling for $4 - 5 a bale but they are selling in 500 bale lots only. Most people don't need 500 bales.

I was blessed that a nice man from church told us I could have whatever we could cut from his drought stricken field. We ended up with 45 square bales which is 45 more than we started with.

 

[helmstead]

The hay we're getting down here is CRAP and is starting at $8 a small square bale for fescue. Want alfalfa? More like $13-20. And a round bale? $70. And it's only Novemeber. We go through a round bale every week for the full sized horses and a square every week for the goats and mini horse.

We're feeding our goats alfalfa pellets now and some grass hay from our property up north.

 

[buc]

I sell only the large 1250-1300 lbs round bales of Smooth Broom Hay, it is selling for $55 per bale. I am sorry to say I am having no trouble selling it.

Two years ago I was selling the same bale for $35 per bale.

 

[jessupfamily]

So I'm not feeling so victimized now! I thought $8 for the square bales was robbery, but I guess it's across the board. We could only find 4 bales though. Not sure where to look now? We were told to bag up all the leaves we could find and supplement the goats with that. They do love dry leaves! But it's hard and time consuming work! I hear north of Indianapolis the hay is pretty reasonable.
Amy J.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

Yikes! Scary prices. I paid 3 a square bale this year, but I bought it late. If I had gotten off my bum and went and bought it out of the field i would have only paid $1.50.

And I thought the feed stores price at 5.75 a bale was outrageous!

 

[helmstead]

Hey - Jessup - what part of SW Indiana are you in? I have family near Washington/Jasper and they had a pretty decent year...

 

[WindyOaksYokes]

Im about 2 hours from MissPrissy... it is selling here for 8.00 to 12.00 a bale... as for round bales... 85.00 to 100.00 depending on who you are going through and the type of hay. Glad we got our field! But we only got one cut, and will be hurting by January!!!