When I am in TX, with only 2 horses, I only
have to get hay for the road trips. The most I ever bought was about 800
for the winter when I had about 10 horses and not much pasture.
One has to look at the weight of the bale and the
useability of the hay.
> When I first bought some hay in CA 6 weeks ago, it was a
bit of sticker > SHOCK after the $3-4/bale in TX. HOWEVER,
the bales here are 80#s vs > 50-60 in TX so the shock has abated.
I am surprised at the actualy > number of different types of hay that is
here at one little feed store. > Some of it looked like cow hay but it
is fed to horses. Just an > observation.
I still get a jolt
whenever I see hay prices discussed as "by-the-bale" prices. Except
for buying the occasional bale from a feed store, where one expects a bit
of a retail markup, I've always bought hay from either the producer or from
a hay broker, by the ton. Someone mentioned 45# bales from NY; my
bales here range from grass bales that average around 75# to alfalfa bales
that run anywhere from 100# to 130#. Some areas still deal with
3-string bales that weigh even more than that. And since we feed
somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 tons per year, I shudder at the very
thought of trying to buy it by the bale! (And which is why it was a
big-ticket item for us to move back to an area with cheaper land and hay
prices--half or more of our "gang" is on pasture for half or more of the
year, or the hay bill would be even worse!)
Heidi (currently unloading
a 3+ ton trailerload every 8 or so days, and counting the days until hubby
is back home to help!)
