# Hay prices



## BCFENCE (Jul 26, 2008)

How much more do you charge the guy who gets 5 or 10 small squares alfalfa comparied to the guy who buys 600 to 700 bales at a time.


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## Hayguy (Jun 4, 2008)

I charge about 10% less for semi loads and for hay right off the bale wagons. If we have to hire extra help to load a semi (most of the time), we charge an extra $75 per load.


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## Production Acres (Jul 29, 2008)

depends a lot on your setup! If you have to drive 1-2 miles to your barn to sell 5 bales of hay, then only sell small loads on Sat. morn for 4 hours. If your office is beside your barn, be thankful for every person that stops and wants 5 bales of hay!
Charging someone to load a semi trailer - only if it is a cattle pot! Can't think of a more ideal customer. How many pickup trucks will you have to load, how many people will you have to show every bale of hay in your barn to, how many people will you have to help tie their load down to make up for one semi truck who can be loaded with a tractor or forklift or by hand.
We charge the same for every customer - if the hay is $250/ton, 1 ton is $250, and 50 tons is $250. Wholesale customers generally get a $20/ton discount - more than 12 lds per year.


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## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

We also charge the same for all customers. My theory is the guy that buys one ton is just a important as the guy that buys 100 ton.


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

Yea, most pay the same here......  All the hay has the same cost - It gets cut and teddded the same, and nearly all of it comes in on the back of the stackwagon and goes in the shed - it costs the same (for us) whether it's a pickup load or a semi-load. Folks that want 5 bales - that sale usually takes more time than loading a few hundred bales. And people that get one pick-up or trailer load a year...... they don't know how to load it, they have no equipment to tie it down...... We had one guy lock the keys in his truck on a Sunday morning......

Rodney


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## BCFENCE (Jul 26, 2008)

Im kinda at a crossroads on what to do ,just kinda wondering on what yall think.Ive got a buyer that buys tractor trailor load right off the hay wagon out of the field for 4.50 a bale( alfalfa orchard grass) and i do no thats cheaper than alot of the prices ive seen but this guy helps stack all the hay, buys alot , and checks are allways good, but i really feel like i need alittle more , do you feel im being greedy, or maybe add 50 cents or a dollar , i dont want to nickel and dime this hay out i work away from home and relly dont have the time to burn the road up for 10 and 20 bales, but 600 bales is pretty nice to get out of the way in the morning and ive got the rest off the day to get my work done. Dont want to tick the guy off over a few cents but i gotta make money to.
THANKS THOMAS


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2008)

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.









Something to think about.

HHH


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## CantonHayGuy (Sep 25, 2008)

I'm just small time here, but isn't likely that someone buying 600-700 bales is trucking it to somewhere that it is gonna sell for more? The farmer who got me started does way more volume than I do (and typically loads up tractor-trailers); when I was buying from him, my price was the same as the price for a tractor-trailer load.


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## Rock Farm (Jun 12, 2008)

Well from the buyers side....its like pulling teeth to get an accurate bale weight, I find a lot of guys will not sell by the ton which is what I need feeding finish cattle. I have burned over weight, quality and dust etc.

I buy anywhere from 500 to 700 bales at a time...basically a trailer load.

I generally do get a better price than by the bale. I think your customers who by 5 bales should and do expect to pay more so don't be shy. Its easy to cut a small amt of money all day, the stress to the buyer really is when the loads are large and thousands of dollars are exchanged. Its easy to spend $100 on you hobby horse money loosing operation all day long....in contrast its like buying and selling stocks when pricing hay loads and commodity corn ,protein supplements and barley prices to make sure the next 6 month feeding period does not kill me. We tie up thousands of dollars in a pen so that little negotiation or discount is greatly appreciated albeit I don't expect you to get hurt on the price either.


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