# The difference in customers!



## swmnhay

Had 2 calls yesterday on hay.Told them both hay had realy gone up.Niether realized it but the first one said, I don't begrudge you the price when you compare it to corn.What it is is what it is.And he has been happy with the hay I have delivered to him.










2nd one said she wasn't going to pay that much for hay.period.She didn't mention that I got her some hay on a sunday when her other supplier ran out last yr.And that I brought her some cherry 3rd cutting orchardgrass at a decent price.









Jeeze lady sell me some of your corn for $4.00 then I will sell you some hay cheap.LOL

So many have gone to plowed up their hay and planted corn and expect to buy hay back cheap.


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## Vol

Hang in there Cy. Many folks are slow to adapt. Your hay will look mighty good when there is a foot of snow on the ground. High dollar corn is going to really help the demand side of hay in your part of the country.

Regards, Mike


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## RockmartGA

What's the old saying?

"The more I deal with people, the more I appreciate my dog."

Something like that.....


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## hiplains hayman

Guess I am a turd, but when someone doesn't like my hay I show them the road. Someone doesn't like my price, I show them the road. Darndest thing, I am completely out of hay by November every year.


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## Teslan

I don't really show people the road I just tell them they don't have to buy it. They can find the road on their own.







. I'm out also.


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## hay wilson in TX

I still sell hay for $2/bale (small Squares) PLUS $3.67 for fertilizer PLUS $1.32 baling, PLUS $0.37 for storage< & if they push me another $.75 for handling.Old SAW


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## hay wilson in TX

I have been known to give askers the phn number 254/774-9994.

That is the salvation Army. They provide Charity.


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## Mike120

hay wilson in TX said:


> I have been known to give askers the phn number 254/774-9994.
> 
> That is the salvation Army. They provide Charity.


Good one.....I'm going to use it. I had a friend of a customer call me a couple of days ago asking about hay. She complained that jdhayboy down the road was charging too much and wondered if I'd sell her any for less. I explained that the price he was charging was charity and she should go fill a big trailer. I guess she's been under a rock 'cause it sure wasn't what she wanted to hear.


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## JD3430

got a call from a customer, says she wants to buy some round bales. she said she had been buying 400lb 4x4 round bales of grass hay for $70 a piece. I told her I could sell her 850lb 4x5 bales for $75 a piece.

she told me she would call me back because she "needed to get her calculator out to figure out whos hay was a better deal"

sheesh....is it any wonder we're such a screwed up country?


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## urednecku

> she "needed to get her calculator out to figure out whos hay was a better deal"


For some reason they don't teach "math" in school any more. I would almost have been thrown out if I brought a calculator to school. Now they are required to use one.

And it really pisses me off to buy something for say $10.25, I hand them a 20 and a quarter----they say "I've already rung it up". THEN give me the quarter back & that hand full of change instead of just a 10.


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## JD3430

how could anyone not know that $5 more for 450 more lbs of hay wasn't a better deal WITHOUT a calculator?


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## AndyL

JD, you should know by now. You just can't fix stupid.

That's $5 more then she been paying. Never mind it's twice the hay.


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## somedevildawg

AndyL said:


> JD, you should know by now. You just can't fix stupid.
> 
> That's $5 more then she been paying. Never mind it's twice the hay.


Exactly.....morons.....like the quote mlappin posted penned by mark twain

(Sic) don't argue with stupid people, they'll only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience!

I've already used it in a practical application in my life...


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## swmnhay

JD3430 said:


> how could anyone not know that $5 more for 450 more lbs of hay wasn't a better deal WITHOUT a calculator?


I've never had a Dairy,Beef or sheep producer not know the difference.But I've had a lot of horsey folk that don't have a clue.You have to punch it in to a calculator in front of them before they realize it.They then get a astonished look on their faces.Then 6 months later they go back to buying a baby bale again because it is CHEAPER per bale.

They need reschooling every 6 months or something.


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## slowzuki

I've never belittled a customer for not liking the price but I make sure I give them the number of the only guy that sells hay as cheap as they are looking for (they quote his price of 2.50 a bale all the time) what I don't tell them is he doesn't store, you have a kicker wagon show up and you have 12 hours to get it empty, you may get an entire load of dusty/wet bales because he doesn't get off to check, and he is usually sold out in July.

We have an abnormal number of folks here with 2+ horses with no hay storage needing weekly deliveries. One lady wanted 10 bales a week delivered 10 miles away included in the 2.50$ per bale. Gave her the otehr fellows number.


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## FCF

",,, And it really pisses me off to buy something for say $10.25, I hand them a 20 and a quarter----they say "I've already rung it up". THEN give me the quarter back & that hand full of change instead of just a 10."

I get an earful from my wife when I do that. She says just give them the $20 that's what the cash register is for, to figure out the change. I say fine, let it figure out they owe me $10 in change instead of $9.75.

When I was a kid and did door to door sales of eggs, produce, etc. there weren't any calculators. You did the math in your head or had to do it with pencil and paper if the customer didn't understand. Now they don't even understand pencil and paper!


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## ontario hay man

I lost a customer one time because the neighbors soggy rained on shit was 5 bucks cheaper. He came crawling back pretty quick and found out I uped the price 10 bucks just for him. That fixed the dickin around. Never had a problem with him since.


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## rjmoses

RockmartGA said:


> What's the old saying?
> 
> "The more I deal with people, the more I appreciate my dog."
> 
> Something like that.....


Ain't that the truth! And my dogs can tell time, make change, and work for their keep.

Ralph


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## triabordofarm

Convinced now that I am going to pure alfalfa for dairy only. I've had it with horse folks. Too much hassle.


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## swmnhay

ontario hay man said:


> I lost a customer one time because the neighbors soggy rained on shit was 5 bucks cheaper. He came crawling back pretty quick and found out I uped the price 10 bucks just for him. That fixed the dickin around. Never had a problem with him since.


I get pretty blunt when they come crawling back.I tell them how bad they got F######.I rub it in good."How come that hay is turning black in your pile"LOL

The program here with some guys is to bale it on the wet side and get it moved quick directly off the field at a lower price. They are still paying more on a DM basis.


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## ontario hay man

I see lots of guys roll it up a bit wet and have it all in the barn the same day its a miracle so many barns havent caught fire around here.


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## JD3430

triabordofarm said:


> Convinced now that I am going to pure alfalfa for dairy only. I've had it with horse folks. Too much hassle.


I'm getting close to that point, too. after doing the math, if I make 5 round bales of mushroom hay, I only make $200. ($40/bale). If I make 3 round bales of horse quality hay, I make about $200. (avg $65/bale). 
Mushroom hay require little to no weed spray. It can be baled damper, or in less than pristine condition. it requires no inside storage. Bales can be stored outside for months with no ill effects. 
downside is I'd have to bale 5 bales to every 3 horse hay bales, so theres more time, more net wrap and more fuel. I figure I spend 3-4 grand on spraying horse hay, which is more than the the extra fuel and net wrap to make more mushroom hay bales. Spraying also takes more time, which offsets the time required to make 5-3 bales. Spraying is also risky. then theres the time required to put horse hay bales in the few remaining barns left in my area. I am very fortunate to be in one in exchange for property maintenance, but that situation could change overnight because the property is for sale. There's also no weekend phone calls, no retards trying to figure out how to load round bales into the back oh a Honda Pilot.
You just make "crappy" hay and you ship it to them. I have a reliable buyer and he pays me within 14 days with no bickering. A very nice business relationship. Probably would be good to get a few more mushroom hay buyers.

I know the pride factor isnt there, but mushroom hay looks better and better all the time. If it paid $120/ton, I wouldn't even consider selling horse hay.


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## rjmoses

JD3430 said:


> You just make "crappy" hay and you ship it to them. I have a reliable buyer and he pays me within 14 days with no bickering. A very nice business relationship. Probably would be good to get a few more mushroom hay buyers.


Here's my strategy, and it's the same strategy as used by electronics makes like Intel. They make CPU chips typically with 4 or 8 processor cores. Then they test them and if an 8 core chip only has 1 or 2 defective cores, they sell it as a 6 core processor, 5 working cores as 4 core, on down.

I try to make the best quality hay possible, but I down grade my hay because of circumstances such as rain, weeds, etc. Friday, I baled some "ditch" hay because it had too many weeds in it.

By starting with high aspirations, I can always downward sell. Or, as I was once told, it's always easier to drop the price when negotiating than to raise it.

Ralph


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## JD3430

rjmoses said:


> Here's my strategy, and it's the same strategy as used by electronics makes like Intel. They make CPU chips typically with 4 or 8 processor cores. Then they test them and if an 8 core chip only has 1 or 2 defective cores, they sell it as a 6 core processor, 5 working cores as 4 core, on down.
> 
> I try to make the best quality hay possible, but I down grade my hay because of circumstances such as rain, weeds, etc. Friday, I baled some "ditch" hay because it had too many weeds in it.
> 
> By starting with high aspirations, I can always downward sell. Or, as I was once told, it's always easier to drop the price when negotiating than to raise it.
> 
> Ralph


That's exactly what I'm doing, but I didn't realize it until you put it so eloquently.


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## FCF

JD3430 said:


> That's exactly what I'm doing, but I didn't realize it until you put it so eloquently.


Or put another way under promise and over deliver. Strive for the best, but no need to promise it.


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## swmnhay

Reputation is everything when selling hay.

I'll never claim hay is better then it is.Or stick a bad bale on a load trying to hide it.

My repeat customers are way more important the guys wanting to bargin constantly.I've been told more then once I bring hay as I described it or better.Some have bought from others claiming good hay and get a bale of shit,wet hay,or the scale tickets didn't match up to actual wt.


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## JD3430

Thing I hate is blowing a lot of money on weed spray to make horse quality hay in mid summer, then having it get all crapped-up with weather problems when it's time to cut. It then becomes mushroom hay. Then your spray money is wasted. Heck it's actually a detriment because it reduces mushroom hay tonnage.
Seems like every time I get a field cleaned up, it's too damp to bale when it should be baled. 
I know, I know......"welcome to hay farming" lol


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## rjmoses

JD3430 said:


> I know, I know......"welcome to hay farming" lol


Yepp!

Ralph


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## JD3430

I think that's why most guys around my area just make big square mushroom hay. There's a non stop demand for it and its easy to make. 
I think my situation is an anomaly on this website. I actually live in an area where there's a good market for producing below average quality hay. 
Some of the stuff I see baled up and sold here to the mushroom companies I wouldn't feed to a herd of garden slugs.


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## Tim/South

JD3430 said:


> I think that's why most guys around my area just make big square mushroom hay.


Yes.

I have learned a lot reading about the mushroom hay business. Never knew one existed until you came along.

Our poor hay was always designated Reclamation hay.


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## swmnhay

I've seen some custom feedlots buy it,poor hay and then mark it up in the feed.


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## somedevildawg

Most all the wheat straw down here goes to Florida for mushroom growers, they don't pay much but they buy a lot of it...


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## swmnhay

Back in the mid 70's a lot of the small town schools closed and they were consolidated to a larger one.A couple of them were converted to growing mushrooms in the area.After a few yrs they quit.I presume it wasn't working for them.

They were not using hay,I think it was cardboard box with a soil/mulch mixture??


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