Is this just a bad time to buy hay or what?

[savingdogs]

We buy our hay just one bale at a time still (storage issues) and have noticed that the last three bales were all terrible despite coming from our favorite hay barns. And both barns have very little selection right now and higher prices.

Is this just something about the weather this year or the time of year or what? I've only had goats two years and don't remember having this issue last spring.

 

[Denim Deb]

It could be the time of year. Don't know about any place else, but they're just starting to cut new hay around here, so anything that's being sold is still last year's hay. And, depending on how it was store, weather, etc, it may or may not be as good as what you were getting.

 

[~gd]

Same here (NC) Last years hay is about the only thing available and it isn't much good since it has been sorted several times. But there is hay being cut and if it can cure and get under cover before the next rain it will be great! We have had a string of cloudy days which slows the cure at low temps (60-70) and spring hay is always lush with water, if baled damp it will work or mildew and only be good for mulch. Spring hay is a crap shoot from the farmers point of view and they hope for a good price to offset the risk they take.

 

[freemotion]

I have storage issues, too, and always need hay in the spring. Well, having pregnant and lactating goats at the same time that it is hard to get good hay is not fun. I will be solving the hay storage issue this year, it is high priority.

Even if you can find a way to store 10 bales, you can buy some late winter and get through the tough part of the year. There is always a scramble in the spring to get hay. Much of it in this area is snarfed up by the horse farms, as the horses often don't get pasture and are on hay year round.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yep.

if you are lucky you can find someone who still has hay. we're struggling to find alfalfa for our milkers. we went thru 4 people who had "alfalfa mix" which meant they had exactly 1 leaf of alfalfa in each bale. the ladies weren't eating it at all.

so finally we found a guy who still has some good stuff - but its the most i've paid in a year. and its last year's hay!

like GD said, in the next couple weeks around here they SHOULD be cutting and baling. but they need warm enough weather and several dry days in the row. in your part of the world it may not be warm enough yet.

its a pickle for sure.

we told one guy we'd just come and get some out of his field right after he baled. (sometimes this gets you a lower price but it involves driving around in someone's field).

so sent those slackers out to free range - cuz its FREE until you can get some good hay.

;-)

 

[FarmerChick]

we are waiting for at least 4 good sunny days in a row before we put down about 85 acres of hay right now....can't get caught with rain...that is worst that can happen to me lol

my hay from last year is fine cause we cured well and it came out wonderful...so I have tons of hay left right now and getting phone calls from people desperately looking for 'just a bit more' to hold them over until the new crop is baled.

I have about 100 round bales just sitting now....and I guess I will put that in the paper for 'cow bales' and unload cheap...heck I just need to unload them lol

 

[glenolam]

A bunch of people are out around here too. Thankfully, though, we got the OK to hay a bunch of fields at my grandmother's place so in the next few weeks we should be starting to gather our own hay! I can't wait.... it will be so nice not to spend a few hours each day taking money out of the bank to run and get hay from someone else. We'll just have to run to my grandmother's barn and take what we need.

 

[savingdogs]

Well we have had record rain in my area (although most of the hay is grown in the eastern part of my state) so it could be the weather then?

I see we need to follow Free's example (again) and make it a priority to have more hay storage space.

My goats HAVE been free ranging because they really don't like the last three bales we bought. I think it was probably old.

 

[ksalvagno]

Spring is always a bad time to buy hay. Farmers usually only have their undesirable hay left and many times the new hay isn't baled yet. Not to mention first cutting is usually crappy hay anyway. So you end up paying big prices for bad hay. I would see if a farmer would be willing to store hay in a specific place for you and buy a year's worth. Then you would have good hay all year round.

 

[savingdogs]

Yes, hearing that people will probably be doing their first cutting won't really relieve the problem for me, my goats just threw down first cutting last time I got that, it was all stems.