# Selling teff



## MFSuper90 (Jun 26, 2015)

I planted teff last year and really thought it was an outstanding grass. Tested good rfq (can't remember the numbers right off the top), yeilded great and had potential to make a bunch of money. However my experiment on my one acre test plot left me with about 100 bales of "funny looking hay" that was eventually donated to the local ag college. I used my best marketing tools and was only getting the "nah I'll pass" or the "can I come try one bale" from the picky horsey people. 
The other day I was approached by a neighbor who asked what the best way to go about rotating Alfalfa while still keeping a hay supply, and I suggested teff and told her my results. She became very excited and hired me to take over her feild to plant teff. So now I'm in a pickle, she wants to go shares on teff to feed her horses but I'm hesitant in the idea of planting something I can't sell. I also don't want to tell her no and close the door on the opportunity to farm the Alfalfa the following years. So how well are you teff guys selling your hay? How did you market teff? Thanks in advance


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

So did you let the try-one-bale people actually try one? That's a good, if annoying, solution when you're having to introduce people to a completely new (to them) product.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

You could print up a fact sheet about Teff and hand out to your customers and maybe they will reaserch it and give it a try.

Offer a 100% gaurentee if they try a few bales.

A free bale to try.


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

Heck, I drive around with a load of 50 handing out free bales. Card with number would probably help. I don't try to sell it to them I just ask for input. How did the animals like it here's the forage test. Maybe 10% inquire about buying it. I did have one person claim they probably couldn't afford it there animals liked it so much. Around here $5 is big money on a small square. $45 on a round bale almost unheard of.


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## Waldo (Apr 29, 2016)

Facing the same problem here in oz the young horse girls on face book want the low sugared etc etc. Rye grass is out ,must have a blend orchard grass fog grass.the trouble with tiff here is its close relation to African love grass.in some of our local government area locations. love grass is banded,so you have to get approval to grow it this is the next big horse hay is rhodes grass ,goggle that up it is available in the us I have been trying to push a variety of beardless barley here to the horse people,what I did was giving the produce guys a large biscuit of hay in a plastic bags.so fare just starting to get response. Have a look on Facebook and see what the horse people are talking about.always one thing to remember, whether you been growing hay since Adam was a boy,you have to have what the customer wants.three years ago had no idea what low gi laminitis and other horse problems. The thing is know the computer look how it's changed thinks


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

The downside of the computer is all the misinformation out there on the 'ol www. Horse owners,casual ones at least, seem to be rather gullible and susceptible to fad-ism? Probably not a word but I'll go with it. They damn sure don't want to pay the establishment costs for all these different types of hay. What a customer wants this week may not be fashionable a month from now. It's going to take a lot of work to establish a boutique horse hay market. possibly more trouble than it's worth. I try to focus on the beef and dairy needs. More often than not horse owners are really pleased with the Timothy/ Queen Anne's lace blend that been going for over 50 years. That old stand is beloved by all animals. Next to climax they go for the old stand every time.
Sorghum Sudan is what I've been pushing. Great interest or curiosity might be better way to put it. Folks can't believe I get it dry. 
I tried millet this year as well. Was supposed to dry down faster. It didn't. Steers are working on that learning curve.doing well on it I might add.
In conclusion, it takes a lot of time to market a new product in a profitable fashion. The recreational horse owners "needs" change with the next issue of Horse and Rider. Playing catch-up means you are always behind. I think the better position may be the one creating the trend. Maybe that's where we should focus. They "need" what they are told they"need".
I remember llamas,alpacas, and waygu beef, oh,lest we forget,bison,elk,yak,now water buffalo. All short lived in my area anyway.
Whew! I think I've expended my " verbal output for a spell.


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## PaCustomBaler (Nov 29, 2010)

It's difficult, for sure. No real answer from me, just keep trying to peddle it by handing out a few free bales for the farms to try.

As for your crop, is there a reason you're sticking with Teff for the rotation? I know of guys from here to Kentucky that'll rotate Alfalfa out with Timothy to still have a strong market.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I am located right on the line of being able to grow some cool season grasses. Orchard and TImothy can grow here, but just so so....so that really helps with being able to market these grasses at a premium. I have to replant either every 5 years.

Bermudas can grow here also, but they require constant nitrogen support when actively growing that I pass on them because of the lower profit margin. But if this desert like drought continues I may have to jump on board with the bermudas.

I have not tried the exotic grasses like Teff due to the difficulties of getting them dry....and their propensity to lodge, which I cannot tolerate.

Here, there is no grass that thrives like Kentucky 31....it is as tough as I have ever seen. I have not tried the endophyte friendly fescues as the word "fescue" strikes terror in these parts as a horse feed.

I do not consider Johnson Grass as a suitable feed because horse and other small animal growers will not buy it and probably would be reluctant to come and get it if I gave it to them.

Alfalfa is a PIA but has good demand.....especially the alfalfa/orchard grass mix.

And for the first time in this county at least, I planted some Meadow Brome that I bought from swmnhay.....I mixed it with some Orchard grass and I am curious as to how this will turn out.....I sure hope it rains soon.

These are my grass ramblings.

Regards, Mike


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

MFSuper90 said:


> The other day I was approached by a neighbor who asked what the best way to go about rotating Alfalfa while still keeping a hay supply, and I suggested teff and told her my results. She became very excited and hired me to take over her feild to plant teff. So now I'm in a pickle, she wants to go shares on teff to feed her horses but I'm hesitant in the idea of planting something I can't sell. I also don't want to tell her no and close the door on the opportunity to farm the Alfalfa the following years. So how well are you teff guys selling your hay? How did you market teff? Thanks in advance


MF, you didn't mention how big this field is or how much teff you would need to get rid of but here are a couple of my thoughts:

If you had to 'eat' one year's worth of teff, what is the ending cost be when you gain the alfalfa ground for numerous years following?

And if your neighbor likes teff, you could continue to plant a little each year, just a little more than she wanted on your other ground (rotating out an old alfalfa field).

As an example, a 10 acre field, she needs 50% of the teff, produced, you give away the other 50% (trying to develop your market, I was going to say sell some, but you struck out this year). But the following year you plant 6 acres of teff in an old alfalfa field of yours for your neighbor and maybe someone who got a 'free' bale is interested in buying your 'extra' teff.

My two pennies today anyway,

Larry


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

We took a small cut of Teff this year and I made it available for different horse customers to try. Here is some of the feedback that got.

1. My horses won't touch it.

2. My horses loved it, walked away from our other hay to eat it. However, have concerns they might eat it to fast vs more stemmy hay and have nothing to chew on the rest of the day and have behavioral issues, like cribbing.

3. My horses loved it - do you have more?

4. My horses ate it, but it is very thin and might get stuck between the older horse's teeth. Not sure about this teff.

Everyone liked the color, smell and texture of it. No one had ever seen teff. Being an annual and unique in appearance, it was well received as a "fescue free" hay those breeding horses.

We'll probably plant it again next year as we continue to recover old hay fields - to generate some revenue. Long term, I doubt I'd plant it - except for a crop rotation.

YMMV

Bill


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

if you have a large amount you will have to sell it for less then your would a local preferred grass. Don't just market to horsey people. Cows love it also. I don't give bales away as my bales are too big but I would if I had small squares. I have a broken big square that I give handfuls away with in plastic bags. If advertising on Craigslist include a link to teffgrass.com. Also if you are selling other grass hay that is kinda lower quality place it next to the Teff. When buyers come for the other grass show them Teff. I sold a lot that way this summer.


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## MFSuper90 (Jun 26, 2015)

Thanks for all the replies. Just as a follow up this is a gigantic feild that adds up to a whopping 6 acres so no, I'm not out a whole lot to "eat" a years worth of hay. Honestly it will probably end up being ground up and fed to my goats. I do find the marketing fun as long as you're not depending on the sale of the hay. A good example of this was 3300 bales of perennial ryegrass that was supposed to be the cats meow. Got talked into doing the feild with little research to back it up. I now have 3100 bales sitting in the barn, collecting dust,waiting for crazy horse people to try it. They whine about having too.much sugar content


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## Waldo (Apr 29, 2016)

It's like Kellogg corn flakes if we only have one brand it would be grate. As a young up and coming hay producer we only had one variety of Lucerne in australia called hunter river Then in the early 7th aphid arrived and near but all wiped out hunter river. So seed was imported from the us I think the first variety was caf 101,after that department of ag grew a lot of replacements now we have a large amount of choice.So in one way the aphid did us a service by changing our variety s. I agree with hillside hay not to put the eggs in one basket. We still are 80% Lucerne, and can't see that changing.For me where we farm Lucerne a 24 7 crop.we get 4 to 5 years hay production,late autumn to early spring feed,then depending on season first cut silage or ifs hay short bale it.Just look at your western states they would produce in one year what would take us 5 that's a educated guess anyway got off the topic a bit I know horse people here that if you gave them the hay they would want a check with it or ask what's wrong with it ,or send you a vet bill for the horse, it can be a no win situation. Bye the way vol I have the timmothy seed ready to sow floods are gone for the moment so still hope to sow next week so far I,ve sprayed the paddock 3 times with round up


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

MFSuper90 said:


> Thanks for all the replies. Just as a follow up this is a gigantic feild that adds up to a whopping 6 acres so no, I'm not out a whole lot to "eat" a years worth of hay. Honestly it will probably end up being ground up and fed to my goats. I do find the marketing fun as long as you're not depending on the sale of the hay. A good example of this was 3300 bales of perennial ryegrass that was supposed to be the cats meow. Got talked into doing the feild with little research to back it up. I now have 3100 bales sitting in the barn, collecting dust,waiting for crazy horse people to try it. They whine about having too.much sugar content


My 3 stupid goats don't seem to think highly of my teff. But they love goathead thorn plants, kochia weeds and alfalfa. Now if we can just develop a market for Kochia weeds that would be great. I've kochia infested grass hay and guys say their cows love the kochia in it. Because that stuff grows huge with NO water at all.


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## MFSuper90 (Jun 26, 2015)

My goats will eat anything I throw at them. Goats are very picky and will eat only leaves off of the alfalfa and only weeds out of the grass. Goats seem to like anything that has wide leaves...like trees. I tried feeding them prairie grass and most of it was wasted. Then I tried mixing the corn in with the prairie. The result was no corn and a bunk full of grass. Now I just take all.my hay and stuff it down a wood chipper that makes a powder. I can grind moldy hay, fine hay, weedy hay, cornstalks or straw and the end result looks like sawdust. I put my hay powder, corn, and a little bean meal in an old concrete mixer I bought off a sale and feed it that way. They can't pick out the corn and BM so they are forced to eat the hay. End result is fat goats and extremely dusty clothes on grind day


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

That's the approach I'm going to take with the hogs. Gotta reduce feed costs. Feed up to 400 per ton


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

hillside hay said:


> That's the approach I'm going to take with the hogs. Gotta reduce feed costs. Feed up to 400 per ton


I use to grind every other day, with hogs and use to put some hay (alfalfa) in the grinder/mixer. The only problem that I had was when I got a little carried away with the hay in the batch it would 'bridge' in the self-feeders a lot more. Of course if the pigs aren't eating, they ain't getting fat either,  of course they got to stay longer on the farm, without being on someone's breakfast plate.

Larry


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

Well , in not that fancy, yet,to have self feeders. I'm still mixing everything into a mash and filling troughs. Someday I'll pop in on Bonfire and see how a real Farrow barn operates.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

hillside hay said:


> Well , in not that fancy, yet,to have self feeders. I'm still mixing everything into a mash and filling troughs. Someday I'll pop in on Bonfire and see how a real Farrow barn operates.


Yep....ol' Bonfire is about as tech advanced as one can be in the farrowing business.

Regards, Mike


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