Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
(quoted from post at 06:56:05 01/07/08) One of the comments above was just because we can get $5 per bale should we. Yes we should, potash is $350+ per ton, when I started in 2001 it was $180 per ton. Nitrogen (30%) was $240 per ton last year and I"m sure it"s bumping $400 now. Diesel fuel and twine are also up. I figure good horse quality hay should be worth as much as corn which is just under $5 per bushel contracted for next fall. I sold hay anywhere from $3.50 to $6 this year. My good regular customers paid a maximum of $5 while anyone off the street paid $6 and seemed happy to get it for that. I"ve heard $7-8 per bale elsewhere. I"ve already warned everyone that hay prices will start at $5 next year. If the market is flooded with hay, which I doubt, and I can"t get my price I"ll grow corn.
(quoted from post at 05:08:44 01/07/08) All the hay that I have I bought for $2.00 or less per bale from a friend. We sold ALOT of it for cost to a few people around here that could not find reasonable hay, and cant afford $5-$6 hay. So now here I sit with a possible good deal on 6 nice bred cows and a bit short of hay to get them to summer, called a friend and he'll still give me $2.00 hay, even though he could say no because he can sell it all right now for $4.00 or a bit more. A friend in need , is a friend indeed!
Everything we do and say will surely come back to us in the end. It's just our choice if it pats us on the shoulder or bites us on the butt.
If expenses go up 30% over 3 years, jumping prices 300% over a couple of months doesn't quite match. Let your conscience be your guide. Got a guy over here (Germany)that did that a few years ago when we had a hard winter followed by a real dry spring, that cuts his fields and and leaves most of it lay, only baling what he can use. Good 1st cut hay here runs about $100 a ton (+/- depending on the bale size/labor involved).