Selling out due to price of feed

[GwenFarms]

I'm in SC and when you can find hay here it is out of the roof. I've been assured things will be better next month. You may want wait to sell as well. The fact is that yes the cost has risen, however, the farmers are not going to want their hay rotting in the field and will sell it at a loss if neccesary to recoop some of their costs.

This past week I paid $68 for 500 lbs of hay. To put that into perspective last year I would pay $25-$35 for 1000lbs of hay. SC, as well as most of the south, is recovering for the worst drought in history. Many people were forced to sell, or give, their pleasure animals away due to hay prices. I've hung on to mine by a wish and a prayer.

I've been told by two local growers that I have bought from for years that the ground testing is showing an early cutting should be possible. What this means is that there will be atleast one, if not two, extra cuttings than usual. What are they going to do with all of this hay when many customers have sold their horses over the winter? They are going to sell it at whatever prices they can get for it.

I can't see it going down as low as it did before, unless there is a huge surplus. Nitrogen has doubled and diesel is up (see my post under the gas price thread in the other board for my opinions on this), but the farmers will realize that they are going to have to cut the prices some to break even, if not make a profit.

 

[GwenFarms]

Quote:
This sounds good in theory, but it is a huge undertaking. I have a friend who has been trying to get his property in shape for years to sprig with coastal and that is what it is taking...years. It takes alot of knowledge to grow hay well, as well as a lot of money to get started.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

So far we haven't seen too much of a rise in hay or feed here. We are still paying $2.00 to $2.50 a bale (Smaller bales) and gas is about $3.05 right now. I think feed is still about $10-$11 a bag. I know it will probably rise eventually, but for now we are ok. I know gas is supposed to go up to about $4.00 a gallon during the summer, but even so I should be ok. I bought myself a little Honda accord and it is wonderful on gas. Much better than the HUGE truck I had been driving! It costs me less than thirty to fill my car up now versus the $60 it used to cost me!

 

[Cara]

Quote:
He should be proud, he cared more about the horse, at 900.00 his horse didn't go to slaughter. At 25.00, that's where they were headed.

The slaughter market is practically non-existent at the moment.

 

[LoneCowboy]

Quote:
If you don't have water rights, you can expect your field to take 5+ years to get to a point where you can hay it. However, most of you live in wetter climates than I do here in Colorado, so it might take a few less years. The cost is through the roof just for seed right now. It takes about 1 bag of seed for every 2 acres and it's $120 a bag. They are also mixing it with more rye and cheaper seed to keep the cost down so you aren't getting the same quality seed you got last year. Then if you don't have your own haying equipment (which costs many 1000's) you will have to have pay somebody to come hay it and that costs alot, because they have to pay gas etc. You just can't win.

 

[wynedot55]

hay will just keep getting higher.because of the high fuel costs as well as high fertalizer cost.custom balers here are charging $20 to $25 to bale hay.so all of this combined makes people with a few horses or cows rethink things an sell out.

 

[rufus]

I think some people may have to realize that if you are not getting an economic benefit from keeping horses, they have to go.

Unfortunately, legally the slaughter market has been snuffed out. Unless the law is changed, we can see a lot of horses being dumped on public land.

And, the feral horse is just another sticky legal problem.

Rufus

 

[Henpecked]

This recession is really sad. One thing you may consider that I have seen happening in Texas is horse owners reaching out to land owners who have no livestock. Often these are old folks living on many acres who could use the extra money. Horse owners pay for grazing rights and it is much cheaper than what they are spending on hay. Not only that, but the land owners have remarked on how much then enjoyed looking out and watching the horses living happily on their land.

I don't know the particulars - but could definitely be an option short-term.

 

[Badhbh]

Can you feed horses on grain and grass only, or do you have to have hay to supplement as roughage? We were thinking of getting a miniature horse, but I haven't done enough reading on it yet.

 

[wynedot55]

yes horses can make it on grass an a lil grain.then when the grass runs out in winter its time to start haying them along with some grain.