# Best way to sell hay



## MFSuper90

Many of you on here are long time hay makers and have far more wisdom than me. So in the past what is the best way that you have found to market hay.

I have always relied on Craigslist, flyers, and now facebook. Whenever somebody buys hay I always remember to ask them how they heard of me. What are your thoughts. Thanks in advance


----------



## JD3430

Im relatively new too, but CL has been 80%, my website is the other 20% of my "retail" sales. My website is part of the local internet network, so if someone googles "hay" or "field mowing" in my area, my website comes up.

CL gets me lots of customers, but all of them want hay CHEAP.

I now have a network of customers buying anywhere from 2-22 bales at a time. Love it. Wish I could make more hay.


----------



## swmnhay

Depends what your target market is.Most of my sales are targeted to cattle feeders within 50 miles so I use local farm type papers that I advertise in year around.CL and websites are probably going to get you more of the horse market.Your best advertiseing is word of mouth,if you sell a good product word gets around and they will come to you.


----------



## IHCman

I agree with Cy, the best advertising is word of mouth. Seems everyone around here knows we always have a surplus of hay so if they run short or are looking for hay they call us.

The best way to sell hay though, is to buy cows, feed the hay to the cows, and sell the calves. jk


----------



## JD3430

No doubt word of mouth is best, but when you're new, you have no word of mouth, you need inexpensive advertising.


----------



## glasswrongsize

There was another thread on here with very good discussion about this very thing. From my gleanings of the thread and my limited experience:

My operation is the polar opposite of many of the people here. Some guys bale more in 1 day than I do all year. The following is based upon that which works for me in my area.

The WHERE to advertise is not as important as HOW to advertise. Advertise honestly; be honest in your description and lay-bold any faults with the product.

Don't get too worried when it's still early and you have not sold your hay yet. If I remember right, the quote was substantially similar to "patience is a bitter cup sipped only by the strong". I tried to sip it and cried "uncle" too early. I'm outta hay to sell and coulda shoulda woulda waited for a weather-related price. It fetched my asking price, but that price is likely to go up during the winter.

Someone else said that if EVERYONE that calls about your hay buys your hay, it is priced too cheap. Don't price your hay too cheap just to get rid of it...especially this early in the year. Again, the bitter cup!

This was my first year selling hay, and Craigslist was a good site as was a on-line free trading post which is hosted my a local radio station. Also cork-boards located at feed/farm stores (the ones that don't sell hay...none around here do) and equipment dealers. Have heard some people using facebook somehow (ain't interested).

Seems to me that word-of-mouth is, by far, the best. I used the above to get the word-of-mouth ball rolling. Each time I advertised, I got a few calls which would lead to a customer showing up. The last ad (craigslist) was for mix of clover/fescue/og/etc.... hay that I stated that it was NOT horse hay, that horses MIGHT eat it, but it is NOT horse hay. I priced it equal to the highest advertised (except alfalfa)
"horse hay" around.
First caller (a true horse person (not Horsey people---see other topic) said he wanted 100 bales. Told him that it ain't horse hay, was full of ladino clover, etc... Sent him home with 2 bales. About 10 days later, another person called me...wanted 100 bales for his horses. Told me he heard about me from the first person. I told him it AIN'T horse hay and the guy was supposed to let me know if his horses liked it and I had heard nothing. He told me that the guy told him that HIS horses loved it, ate all of it, and no bloat/slobbering/dust. He came and got a hundred bales.
The first guy called me back and said he wanted to buy a winter's worth of my hay and arranged a time to get it. Called about 3 days before the scheduled time and said his buddy also wanted 100 bales for his horses. He also said another guy wanted some for his horses too. I told him that I wanted to see what was left after he and his first buddy got their hay. The morning they were supposed to be there, he called and confirmed...and said the third buddy "would not take 'no' for an answer" and was coming too JUST IN CASE I could sell him hay. Sent three trailer loads of hay out that day. ...and the first guy was with them, but didn't even pick his up yet. They didn't have room on the trailers for his. He is coming back.

That was kinda long winded, but for a reason. "The first guy"...he's my 1st cousin and lives about 3 miles from me; "the second guy" owns 20 acres adjacent to me and we talk whenever he comes to his patch of ground every month or two; the third and fourth guys, I knew but not well. My point is, MY OWN COUSIN didn't think of me until he recognized the number listed in the ad; my neighbor didn't think of me until he heard from my cousin. It's my first year selling, and they had no idea to check with me, so advertising is good to get a customer base.

Back to the honesty. I sold about 800 bales of "not horse hay" to horsemen at a decent price from this last ad. I didn't understate my hay, but tried not to overstate it either. I can slightly understate my hay or slightly overstate my hay; the same customer can come who would buy the hay either way, but one way he was disappointed in what he sees and the other he is pleasantly surprised. Either way, he bought the hay, but using a lil pre planned psychology, I sent him away a happy repeat customer.

I get a lot a callers for hay from the ads, but very few that come to look at the hay. EVERY SINGLE person that has looked at my hay has bought it and was pleased with its quality compared to my description.

And word of mouth goes both ways...bad and good. I want my ad-answering customers to be pleasantly surprised. Their referrals are then relying on THEIR description and not mine.

I will be surprised if I need to advertise at all next year. Most expressly stated that they wanted hay next year and wanted me to call them when baling.

73, Mark


----------



## swmnhay

glasswrongsize said:


> There was another thread on here with very good discussion about this very thing. From my gleanings of the thread and my limited experience:
> 
> My operation is the polar opposite of many of the people here. Some guys bale more in 1 day than I do all year. The following is based upon that which works for me in my area.
> 
> The WHERE to advertise is not as important as HOW to advertise. Advertise honestly; be honest in your description and lay-bold any faults with the product.
> 
> 73, Mark


Honesty is key to repeat customers.Never claim you hay is better then it is.I've seen a lot of times where guys will put crap bales in the middle of a load at a sale barn,he might get away with it a couple times but after that he is black balled and no one will buy his hay the hay auction will even comment that the guy has had bad bales in load.
A guy will always have a few bad bales I will always sort them off and feed them or sell at a discount.
HERE most everything is sold by the ton.Crooked hay sellers will cheat on the wieghts.I had a new customer order a load of hay and after I delivered it he reloaded on his racks and hauled to town and rewieghed it.He called me back and ordered more.he told me it was the first time he ever was sold a honest wieght.I've been selling to him ever since.I've sold him around 2000 ton since then.He has had guys offer him hay for less $ and he tells them no thanks.


----------



## Growing pains

Around here most is sold per bale but auctions a hundred miles or so north sell by the ton. I have a few people that want puff ball bales because the women handle most of the hay and they are more than happy paying the same for a 40 pound bale as a 60 pound bale. I only bale as much as they tell me they want because I don't like stacking light bales and I refuse to adjust bale length since it works with my system. They just seem happy that I will actually make the bales that they want because no one else will attempt to accomodate them.


----------



## JD3430

Funny you mention the weight of bales issue. I agree hay should be bought/sold by the ton. The problem in my area is scales are about as rare as a ******* in a ghetto. 
I offer to weigh the bales for customers for $50 at the local scale house, which is 10 miles in the wrong direction. Scale charges $15 to drive across and get ticket. 
Surprisingly, nobody wants to pay the fee. Even on a load of 22 round bales, they just believe my average bale weight of 825. 
I know the average weight of my bales because the mushroom buyer weighs me full and weighs me empty.


----------



## SwingOak

I sold some hay on CL and said it was early, lots of red clover, probably was a chance some of it would get dusty/moldy and it was NOT for horses. Goat/cow/maybe mulch hay only. I posted that ad around 11 pm on a Saturday night, I had an email from somebody at 6ish am the next morning, and by 1pm they were loading it on their trailer. It was only 40 small squares, most around 30 lbs, and I sold it for $60. I found it when we were loading it they were buying it for their horses. I must have told her a half dozen times I would not feed it to horses, and was selling it because I wouldn't feed it to my own. She said they would feed it first and it would be fine. I got her number and email, and contacted her on several other occasions I had hay to sell and never heard from her again. So now when I have bad hay, I put it in a pile and compost it. Last thing I want is a reputation for selling bad hay, even though I was completely honest about the quality (or lack of it) up front.


----------



## BWfarms

I do preseason contracts of what I anticipate I'm going to have after I fill my barns for my cows. Gives me peace of mind that I don't have bales sitting in field edges or I have to cover up. I usually have some extra so my guesstimate is always slightly conservative. Extras sell fast, usual its contract buyers that decide they want more. All word of mouth for me. I disappoint people who approach me every year inquiring about my hay. Sorry, I need more land.


----------



## deadmoose

IHCman said:


> The best way to sell hay though, is to buy cows, feed the hay to the cows, and sell the calves. jk


For the prices some of these guys get, I think they have something figured out.

Now for the best way to utilize hay (and eat it), keep that steer and process hay and grass through it. Eat the beef. (Add additional forage to diet if you so choose. I know some people need more fat then beef on their plate.)


----------



## VA Haymaker

We have sold our hay is word of mouth, new paper ad and craigslist. We had a really good quality second cutting and sold just about all of it to one customer - but it was not great grass hay like a pure timothy or orchard grass. It was a mix of orchard grass and whatever native grasses we had at the time. It was, however, weed and clover free and the horse folks that bought the bulk of it and the reminder commented it was as good as they had seen. I felt like it was mixed grass hay, not top dollar and I didn't price it as such. The impression I get is many of these customers are price first, quality second. It's not surprising my second cut this year was as good as they had seen.

Without a doubt next years hay will be top quality timothy and teff - if the weather corporates and the equipment don't fail. I doubt any of my previous customers will pay for those bales what I observe is the going rate for quality hay.

But with the customers I have had, being straight up with them, to include talking a few out of a long drive or explaining the quality of some of my earlier hay wasn't for horses, appropriately pricing the hay, being generous with a few sample bales to feed before buying and a willingness to cut open a bale for inspection has worked great for me. I also insist that when loading, if there is any bale they don't like, regardless, we'll set it aside.

Good luck,
Bill


----------



## JD3430

leeave96 said:


> We have sold our hay is word of mouth, new paper ad and craigslist. We had a really good quality second cutting and sold just about all of it to one customer - but it was not great grass hay like a pure timothy or orchard grass. It was a mix of orchard grass and whatever native grasses we had at the time. It was, however, weed and clover free and the horse folks that bought the bulk of it and the reminder commented it was as good as they had seen. I felt like it was mixed grass hay, not top dollar and I didn't price it as such. The impression I get is many of these customers are price first, quality second. It's not surprising my second cut this year was as good as they had seen.
> 
> Without a doubt next years hay will be top quality timothy and teff - if the weather corporates and the equipment don't fail. I doubt any of my previous customers will pay for those bales what I observe is the going rate for quality hay.
> 
> But with the customers I have had, being straight up with them, to include talking a few out of a long drive or explaining the quality of some of my earlier hay wasn't for horses, appropriately pricing the hay, being generous with a few sample bales to feed before buying and a willingness to cut open a bale for inspection has worked great for me. I also insist that when loading, if there is any bale they don't like, regardless, we'll set it aside.
> 
> Good luck,
> Bill


Thats so much like how it is for my operation, Bill. Anothert thing I found is some buyers actually WANT natural blends of grasses-not just pure OG.
The word of mouth thing works great for the old pros like swmnhay and vol, but when you're in your first years, you need to advertise.

Even if I was an old pro, I'd still advertise. One thing about many hay buyers is they're fickle. One day you think you have a life long customer, then they up and leave you for another hay supplier whos a little cheaper, cuter, has a nicer truck-just about any dumbass reason.
Advertising keeps new buyers in the pipeline.


----------



## gearhartfarms82

Social media


----------



## Farmineer95

Hay auction mostly. They take a fee but the check is in the mail the next day. There is coop scale across the road fron the auction yard and charges $5. Haven't had the pleasure of dealing in pet food personally.


----------



## swmnhay

JD3430 said:


> Thats so much like how it is for my operation, Bill. Anothert thing I found is some buyers actually WANT natural blends of grasses-not just pure OG.The word of mouth thing works great for the old pros like swmnhay and vol, but when you're in your first years, you need to advertise.Even if I was an old pro, I'd still advertise. One thing about many hay buyers is they're fickle. One day you think you have a life long customer, then they up and leave you for another hay supplier whos a little cheaper, cuter, has a nicer truck-just about any dumbass reason.Advertising keeps new buyers in the pipeline.


I still advertise.Always looking for a new customer.You never know when you may loose a old customer.I deal with a lot of cattle guys and they change their rations so it can change the amount of hay they buy.A lot of byproducts are fed here so rations are constantly changeing.Mainly change to poor roughage and distillers from alfalfa hay.It bites to loose a 1000 bale customer to straw and distillers.Over the yrs I've lost 3 accounts like this.It bites to loose a 10K a month customer.


----------



## endrow

JD3430 said:


> Thats so much like how it is for my operation, Bill. Anothert thing I found is some buyers actually WANT natural blends of grasses-not just pure OG.The word of mouth thing works great for the old pros like swmnhay and vol, but when you're in your first years, you need to advertise.Even if I was an old pro, I'd still advertise. One thing about many hay buyers is they're fickle. One day you think you have a life long customer, then they up and leave you for another hay supplier whos a little cheaper, cuter, has a nicer truck-just about any dumbass reason.Advertising keeps new buyers in the pipeline.


Well said.


----------



## haygrl59

We are going into our 4th year of expanded hay operations (from 80 acres to over 400 acres). The guys had a sign out front that stated hay for sale and that was pretty much it until I came into the picture 4 years ago. I built a website and advertised on every free classifieds on the internet. Word of mouth, a website, social media, free classifieds has built up our customer base. I still find locals within 50 miles that never heard of us and are pleased to find a local hay supplier. We are honest and upfront regarding the hay with all of our customers. As the boss says, "We can't make it into something it isn't". If you're mostly a 1-man operation, marketing the hay can be a bit difficult as it is time-consuming. I can understand why a lot of producers just go with word-of-mouth. The hay is the only thing we do here at the farm. Last year we put up over 50,000 bales. We still have about 40,000 left but its still early in the hay selling season. A lot of folks over-grazed their pastures last fall as the weather was relatively mild. I'm thinking these people will still be needing hay once the spring weather breaks because the pastures won't grow back as healthy as they should. The boss would love it if we could sell out by the end of January and I'm optimistically hoping. I'm fielding lots of call from other producers who didn't make enough hay (due to weather conditions last spring/summer) and need hay to meet their contracts. Time will tell if some big sales come through. We get a lot of "tire kickers" that call but if I can get them to come and look over the hay, I can usually make a sale and eventually a repeat customer. Most of our customers are horsey people and they can be difficult to work with but we just keep plugging away with our advertising and customer service and things usually end up okay. Best wishes to everyone and I hope you all have an empty barn to stow this year's hay into!


----------



## IH 1586

I just finished up my 2nd year of selling hay and I run paid ads in 2 local that I run for about 2 months end of April - June. I sell 95% of the hay right out of field and need customers ahead of time. During the winter I run free ads for any hay I have in the barn and I also have price lists that go to all my custom work and hay customers in Jan that lists the price for hay for the upcoming season and if I have any left over from the current season. I also have a couple websites.


----------



## slowzuki

My hay has been sold out before the start of the season for many years now but I did some straw this fall. Forgot the fun of finding new customers!! It's a different market that the horse folks, most calls for more than a few bales are construction companies or strawberry growers. The construction companies appear to not care what the cost is as long as you can load it when their truck shows up.


----------

