Why would straw be more expensive than hay?

[shadowpaints]

i get clean dry barley straw for .75 a bale, hay is 7 $ for a 100 lb bale of alfalfa

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I use shavings...

Works great!

 

[Beekissed]

A.T. Hagan :

In my part of Florida hay is produced all over. Straw, on the other hand, is only available from the fairly scarce small-grain crops that are grown in the winter or has to be trucked long distances from the grain producing areas of the nation. More hay, less straw means that the scarcer commodity is going to be the more expensive.

Yep, same here. Supply and demand determines the price.​

 

[SillyChicken]

i think I pay 2.29 for straw.... straws cheaper because it's a byproduct from the actual product of grain. Hay is the product it'self so it commands a higher price. Plus I think we had a bad hay season this year to so that doesn't help. Luckily my brother cuts his own so I get it for free!

 

[shadowpaints]

we use shavings when someone is in the barn that isnt in for foaling or kidding, and straw for foaling or kidding and out in the outside sheds for winter beddding

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

If hay went here for what some of yall are paying I would be planting an getting rich.

Apparently we pay the same for round bales as some of yall do for square bales.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
$7.25 a bale????

Ours is $14. And yes, straw is MUCH cheaper.

Bales in the east are typically MUCH smaller than bales in the west. Figured that out on a similar thread on another forum years ago.

Maybe the straw is expensive due to Halloween and fall decorations?

 

[sulco]

Quote:
I was using shredded paper from work thinking I was going to be all thrifty. I loaded the nesting boxes and came back the next morning and the paper was was mostly gone because they'd eaten it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
Some if it may be "specialty" hay and some may be "specialty" customers. If people are willing to pay it, somebody is willing to charge for it.

With the draught this year, I expect hay to really go up in price. Most people up here only got one cutting, or at most two. My neighbors didn't even crank uopitheir equipment in what should have been their busiest haying season.

Many places in the country had even worse years than we did. I think it is going to be a rough year for cattle ranchers/farmers. I kinda think the price of beef at the store may come down a little as people sell cattle for butchering instead of paying to try to feed them through the winter. It probably won't come down a whole lot since what the farmer makes is a fairly small part of the total cost of processing, packaging, shipping and storing, but I think we might see an effect.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

Quote:
I was using shredded paper from work thinking I was going to be all thrifty. I loaded the nesting boxes and came back the next morning and the paper was was mostly gone because they'd eaten it.

Rotten girls

Ours like to eat shavings in the nest box, thus the shredded paper if we aren't using hay.

Now, they will leave shavings in the coop alone otherwise. Just in the nest box are they viewed as a tasty treat.