Hay prices

[sirmissalot]

How much do you guys usually pay for hay? Just out of curiosity

[Southpole]

If it's the westside it's $16.00 for a 75lb. alfalfa bale and $7 for good 50lb. local grass bale. If it's the eastside it's $10 for a 75lb. bale of alfalfa. For our horses last summer we bought those huge 4ft*4ft*8ft grass/alfalfa for $210 a ton.

[MountainWalk]

Cenex down the road is selling eastside hay for 18. We don't buy hay. We cut our own.

[Kc_Kracker]

we can only feed local because our 2 get the runs off alfalfa timmy or orchard, which is fine by me, we pay $4 a bale 

[sirmissalot]

Ok. I know its way cheaper after they cut it and you go and get it from the field yourself. I've just got 2 goats so I don't need a lot, other than the stupid things waste so much of it.

Part of the reason I ask is a buddy said he just got 75 bails for $200. With my math that only comes out to around $100 a ton 

It got me thinking, my friend in Wyoming gets his for $300 a ton but thats alfalfa hay mix, he said its going up to $400 a ton though with the drought theyve been having.

I need to plan ahead for next year so I don't have to keep paying $7 a bail for cheap local grass hay. Better than almost 16 from Dells though! I'm still learning this farmin thing

[Whitpirate]

You're best bet with goats is get a good local hay.  Unless you are milking I wouldn't waste the high test on goats they'll process blackberry vines if you give them the opportunity. 

My horses get local and then supplemented with a little EW alfalfa in the winter.  One older mare gets a little beet pulp mash too (but I'm a softie). 

[WSU]

Check craigslist.

[HUNT]

$150 for grass hay and $250 for alfalfa is the going rates here!

[6x6in6]

we can only feed local because our 2 get the runs off alfalfa timmy or orchard, which is fine by me, we pay $4 a bale 

Ditto.
Local only for mine too.  $4 to $5

[oldleclercrd]

I paid $200 a ton for my alfalfa. 100# bales.

[benbo30]

I pay in the winter about $170 a ton for timothy and in spring summer about $150 a ton , i get it from the big hay companys here in ellensburg they are called kickouts which is basically not export quality , every now and then ill find a bad bale but mostly get good hay.

[black hog]

local grass hay for cows or goats in the skok vally for 3.50 a bale not bad stuff

[steen]

We paid $3.25 per bale in the barn from a field we harvest on.  I feed a small amount of grain in the winter to supplement mostly to give them something to look forward  to.  I don't know what a bale at the feed store costs, more than I want to pay.  I couldn't afford to have horses if we paid feed store prices.  My brother does our hay for us.  We used to get it out of the field and into the barn ourselves for $1.25 a bale but those days are over due to age, work, time and inflation.

[PolarBear]

I only feed 2nd & 3rd cutting alfalfa and I think I payed $12 per bale on sale last fall.  With Obama in office again and the predicted heat wave in the mid west this coming summer, we can probably expect to pay $19+ per bale this year.  Local grass hay has been going for $4-$6 per bale.  If you don't mind a little canary grass in it and are only feeding it to cattle or goats, I know a guy in the Skookumckuck Valley who usually sells it for $3 in the field.  He usually hays right after the 4th of July.

[JLS]

Trading in the horses for a Mystery Ranch is looking like a better deal all the time.  I last bought hay for $85 a ton from a good friend.  We saw the trend in hay prices and sold the ponies.

Maybe someday when we don't have to worry about college tuition we'll buy some again.