# Pricing hay



## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Talking with a cousin out at town last night, he was asking me what a fair price for hay would be. He has just retired, bought some land and some hay equipment. Just bought another 30 ac at $3,000/ac of ground that I can't hardly walk across.

He talked about how he had baled some great looking grass hay. I asked him what kind--he didn't know, but it was great looking. Ground was fallow or pasture for the past few years. But it was great looking hay.

He said his round bales were 5x5, string wrapped and he thought $30/bale sounded fair. He said that he couldn't get a bale spear into them without pushing the centers out. This told me that the bales were probably really, really lose and light.

I told him I had just cut and baled a couple of acres for a close friend of mine, and next door neighbor, for $20/bale and a bottle of Scotch. (Did it more as a favor than custom baling.) So, at $30/bale, he was probably losing money.

To my cousin, $30/bale sounded like a lot of money.

To me, it doesn't even cover my time and fuel costs, not to mention fertilizer, equipment depreciation and maintenance, land price, taxes, insurance, chemicals, seed, etc.

Amateurs!!!!!

Ralph


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## brandenburgcattle42 (Sep 6, 2012)

Thay $30 a bale has forced me to borrow money to make my payments hold on to my stash till they r all sold out and make my move this winter. I won't sell a 3x3 for less than $45 cause its worth it. Yes dollar signs get people fired up. I have some third cut orchard alf for sale 18% protein 160rfv so green it will make you blind priced $200/tn and firm that is equal to $5 a bale in small squares and they say that way to much. They just don't get it!


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

brandenburgcattle42 said:


> Thay $30 a bale has forced me to borrow money to make my payments hold on to my stash till they r all sold out and make my move this winter. I won't sell a 3x3 for less than $45 cause its worth it. Yes dollar signs get people fired up. I have some third cut orchard alf for sale 18% protein 160rfv so green it will make you blind priced $200/tn and firm that is equal to $5 a bale in small squares and they say that way to much. They just don't get it!


That's a great rfv for grass hay!. If that hay was here you probably could sell it for $120/bale. 3x3 meaning square right?  As that would be a small round.


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## brandenburgcattle42 (Sep 6, 2012)

Teslan said:


> That's a great rfv for grass hay!. If that hay was here you probably could sell it for $120/bale. 3x3 meaning square right? As that would be a small round.


yes big squares I would sell some out your way no problem would be tickled with $90-$100 a bale


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## brandenburgcattle42 (Sep 6, 2012)

Teslan said:


> That's a great rfv for grass hay!. If that hay was here you probably could sell it for $120/bale. 3x3 meaning square right? As that would be a small round.


here is some in field pics of it. Never felt hay this soft


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Yeah that looks like my 3rd cutting orchard bales look like. However I know my feed values aren't that high. Well I don't know that as I've never had 3rd cutting tested. In my area people in the market for that don't particularly care about test values, but how pretty it looks.


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## HALLSHAY (Nov 30, 2008)

Hay looks great Bradenburg! How much of that do you have and is it in a barn or covered? What do you guess the bales weigh? I am interested just because we are sooo short on mixes this year.


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## HALLSHAY (Nov 30, 2008)

Might be able to send it east to PA or west to CO.


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## brandenburgcattle42 (Sep 6, 2012)

HALLSHAY said:


> Might be able to send it east to PA or west to CO.


I have close to two semi loads yes we could truck it. Andits ina shed on pallets


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## bunkhouse (Aug 10, 2013)

* orchard grass 5x5 rounds 1,100 lb. net wrapped stored dry.*

*$100 ea. pick up will load. *

*John *


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