# Booking Hay 2019



## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Got my earliest call ever to book new crop hay.

"When you are baling get ahold of me and I'll lay it in for the winter.I don't expect you to price it then at summer lows but I want it here"

He is a hand to mouth guy usually and I ran out this winter,he doesn't want that happening again!


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## paoutdoorsman (Apr 23, 2016)

We could all use some more customers to start planning like this.


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## ozarkian (Dec 11, 2010)

Over this past weekend, I had 2 customers want to reserve hay. One even wants to put money down even before I price it. Our drought last summer woke a lot of people up.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

I have not had anybody call to reserve new crop hay.. a lot of people put wheat out that still is not out of the ground. I believe it'll be okay little more time. Between barley wheat and rye we have about 300 acres of cereals out that are just getting greened up and are definitely a couple inches tall.. we had quite a few people inquire about buying the straw right on the field on the windrow. We always sell some right off the field and he will probably do it you this year as well also


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## paoutdoorsman (Apr 23, 2016)

I have been asked about straw already. Haven't decided where it should be priced yet.


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## Uphayman (Oct 31, 2014)

One account bought all of our 2019 straw crop. Price to be decided later. Acreage not yet determined. Very satisfied customer that had also bought straw from others........that left him hanging. To say straw is in demand is an understatement.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

We received our first call over a month ago for 2nd cutting and another call yesterday. I think there will be more people this year that learned an important lesson about not planning.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Just had a new customer (bought 2018 hay), request 1,000 bales, priced later. Seems that the 105 bales they bought this weekend at $8 a bale, was a bargain. Turns out they though we were over priced, so they drove over 100 miles to some place in a different state, only to find out the 'good' hay (apparently similar to mine) was $10 a bale, junkier hay was cheaper. They came home with an empty trailer, plus I'm only 15 miles from their place, I'm thinking how cheap was that lesson. 

Larry


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

paoutdoorsman said:


> I have been asked about straw already. Haven't decided where it should be priced yet.


 I have a BTO Dairy neighbor, 
And we're friends all our lives. He's bought straw off the field for years from me. I hate to lose him as a customer and I know they will not pay big dollars for straw they just can't afford it with the dairy economy being where it is. In February and the beginning of March I hold straw to auction and it brought prices like I have never seen before I know it will Not Bring that next year when Harvest starts and new straw is on the market, but I will have a rough time getting those prices out of my mind


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

swmnhay said:


> Got my earliest call ever to book new crop hay.
> 
> "When you are baling get ahold of me and I'll lay it in for the winter.I don't expect you to price it then at summer lows but I want it here"
> 
> He is a hand to mouth guy usually and I ran out this winter,he doesn't want that happening again!


Do you think the customer will show when you have hay? How do you lock them in? What do you do if you can't deliver, ie what can go wrong will go wrong on the farm comes into play?


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

leeave96 said:


> Do you think the customer will show when you have hay? How do you lock them in? What do you do if you can't deliver, ie what can go wrong will go wrong on the farm comes into play?


I can tell you aren't a grain farmer. We have to have special Future Glasses that we put on so we can look into them to see how much we are going to produce.

All kidding aside, I don't know of any hay farmer worth his salt around here that would pre sell his entire average annual production before spring green up. It should be safe to forward contract maybe 25% of production, as if you cant make that we have bigger problems, like last year. We had rain every 2 days or so, first cutting alfalfa was taken when I should have been taking 3rd. Since I supplied dairies, I notified them that I wouldn't have the quality or the quantity they were needing, and they planned accordingly. I could have gone to a Dairy Hay Auction to buy the tonnage I needed to supply them but instead I just let them do it and saved the middle man so to speak. They were much obliged I told them in advance so they could adjust their rations accordingly.

tl;dr Never count your chicks before they hatch


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

leeave96 said:


> Do you think the customer will show when you have hay? How do you lock them in? What do you do if you can't deliver, ie what can go wrong will go wrong on the farm comes into play?


He will show,actually I'll deliver as I do most of my hay.Alot of things can go wrong but we both know that,we both farm.Cross that bridge when we get there.He has a little grass hay he bales but doesn't have enough.

I never have made a written contract out in my life for hay.A few have broken their word but life goes on.But I don't forget the ones that do break it!

If im short of hay from weather reasons I let them know way ahead of time.This one guy may represent 5% of my sales so not worried about having enough.Major bookings aren't made until fall and its all in a bale.

My hay isn't for sale for summer prices,a year around customer I will price it what I think the average for the year is.I'll book it now but priced later.

Booking hay here you have to roll with it,thngs are constantly changing so the hay demand can change from customer.

Pretty common things that happen are.A custom feedlot guy doesn't get refilled.He was promised cattle to refill then they might take a month or more to put cattle in so feedlot doesn't need the hay he thought he did.

Nutritionist changes the ration    Hay is to good,Hay isn't good enough,Lets feed more corn stalks,Lets feed straw.

Havent dealt with hay broker for yrs 2 out of 3 backed out on a deal.They like to book hay thinking price will be up and pick up later.If price goes down they dont need it.Or buy a entire pile and take the best and leave the rest 

It's all part of marketing hay here.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Well last night loaded out the last 360 bales (at $8 a bale too) of 2018, they ask if I would put them down for 3,000 bale this year. I had to answer nope, not unless you can tell me an ACCURATE weather forecast for June - September OR wait until about August 1st, then I have a better idea of my inventory looks like. After all my cows do like to eat, too.

I have already committed to selling around 15% of my normal production, but I remember years where I have only had 25% of normal production too. My ace in the hole is my RB inventory (carry over), looks like about 40-50% of my cow's needs for next year (with a normal spring).

Larry


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

As of 2 weeks ago, all my hay for this year is spoken for. I had 300 bales spoken for last fall when I was delivering him last year's hay. It's the same crop of customers, I don't advertise, they will call me and ask if I'll have enough hay for them. If I can't make it for them, they'll just get it from somebody else. Most of them are coworkers or neighbors so makes it easy.


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## Uphayman (Oct 31, 2014)

Had a customer ask if I'd consider producing organic hay yesterday. Told him I'd study it. We are a "manure factory" , currently, which lends itself to said consideration. Some google time............and then the realization that for 5 decades I endured milk inspectors. No, we aren't doing organic. If they're anything like the milk gestapo folks...............NO!!!!!!


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## Hayjosh (Mar 24, 2016)

Uphayman said:


> Had a customer ask if I'd consider producing organic hay yesterday. Told him I'd study it. We are a "manure factory" , currently, which lends itself to said consideration. Some google time............and then the realization that for 5 decades I endured milk inspectors. No, we aren't doing organic. If they're anything like the milk gestapo folks...............NO!!!!!!


All that time, effort, cost, and inefficiency just to get a marketing claim with no actual proven benefits. I'll never understand organic.


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## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

Hayjosh said:


> All that time, effort, cost, and inefficiency just to get a marketing claim with no actual proven benefits. I'll never understand organic.


I look at it differently. There is a group of customers out there that prefer crops raised organically. I don't worry about the validity of their belief, but about whether it is a profitable market to be in. I sell most my hay to horses. Some people don't feel it is worth the hassle of dealing with horse people. For me it is worth it as it is more profitable than selling to cattle operations. Just my two cents.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I believe that the organic market is just beginning to wane somewhat here, but it is still much much better than the conventional market profit wise. Organic veggies here are especially highly profitable. Most of my hay customers are horse folks....and I have done certain marketing restrictions to weed out the less than desirable horse crowd. Many cattle hay purchasers here are as much of a pain or even more so than than some of the horse folk. Good and bad in everything involving lucre.

Regards, Mike


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## Draft Horse Hay (May 15, 2014)

Vol said:


> I believe that the organic market is just beginning to wane somewhat here, but it is still much much better than the conventional market profit wise. Organic veggies here are especially highly profitable. Most of my hay customers are horse folks....and I have done certain marketing restrictions to weed out the less than desirable horse crowd. Many cattle hay purchasers here are as much of a pain or even more so than than some of the horse folk. Good and bad in everything involving lucre.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Yep -- my horse customers might show up w/ a Subaru and a U-Haul trailer to get their hay but I've never had them screw me like some locals that wanted some hay for their cows. Had a few hundred bales and all but the bottom bales we're spoken and paid for. They understood and then promptly decided to take everything BUT the bottom bales. I ended up selling my customer some of my own hay and fed the bottom stuff to my animals. Unscrupulous people come in all shapes.

Organic "certification" cost has caused a number of veggie growers I know to punt the certification. They say their customers know them and how the produce so why pay someone else to tell the customers what they already know?

So what's up with the straw demand? In our area, WA and ID Palouse, where there are tens of thousands of acres of wheat, the straw demand has only recently picked up due to some sort of straw board facility going in as I hear it. Prior to that, they were hauling tandem semis of straw to Canadian poultry farms where the litter was mixed w/ the straw and composted. The final product was then trucked to mushroom farms in western WA.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Draft Horse Hay said:


> So what's up with the straw demand?


Building has picked up considerably.....new yards, etc. has put the pressure on the supply. Not a lot of wheat grown in the East anymore.

Regards, Mike


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Straw is still tight here $300+ . New crop is just around the corner &#8230; The pipe line was using mega amounts of straw and is no longer buying straw . Will the problem self correct ??


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