Hay

There is no feeling like a barn full of hay. Right now, that feeling of deep satisfaction is coming at a price. A STEEP price. Here in the Central Valley of California, alfalfa is selling for approximately $25 a bale at the feed store. The tricky thing with feed store bales though is that you buy by the bale, not by the pound.

Anyone who buys hay knows that there's more to the purchase than just the price. The adage, you get what you pay for applies just as readily to hay. Who cares if it is cheap if it ends up being old, dusty, moldy, or stemmy. Most horse owners are willing to pay more if the quality is good. Last week, the ranch had a few tons delivered - probably a year and a half's worth. I don't think the owner wanted quite that much, but she couldn't find enough neighbors willing to buy at least some of it, so she took an extra stack or two. Grass hay is also on its way, so the barn is going to be bulging from both ends.

The alfalfa that the ranch owner gets comes from the Imperial Valley; the grass comes from Oregon. The buyer she gets it from sells good quality at a competitive price because she buys the entire load. We all know the price of hay is going through the barn roof. This load ran $475 a ton with approximately 16 bales to the ton. So while these bales ran about $28 each, slightly higher than feed store bales, they are heavy. Each bale weighs around 119 pounds. They're almost too heavy for her and I to move around.

I'd love to know what your hay is costing you this year. Do you buy it by the bale or by the ton? Do you have round bales, two strand bales, or three strand bales like ours? Do you buy alfalfa, and if not, what are you feeding? Are cubes any cheaper?

Between hay and diesel costs, horses are getting more expensive by the minute.