Need horse hay in north Alabama area? Group of horse owners getting desperate!?

Question

Hi all !

If you have noticed, Alabama is in severe drought. The farmers have fields of dust!

I've looked for good, clean, fertilized hay for over a month. My usual suppliers are getting less than half their normal cut - one cut so far ! They all have lists of 15 - 30 !

I've found bales of hay in AR, OK, TX etc, but the freight is about $1.50 to $2.00 a mile - one way.

Today, I called the Alabama Agriculture Drought Committee and left a message with a secretary. People are getting rid of their cattle if they have no other recourse.

There are groups of us going in together. We need burmuda, burmuda/orchard mix (maybe even some fescue in), timothy, timothy mix. We need at least 400 square bales (the normal small rectangle shaped bales). We could also use several round rolls to put in pasture rings.
{ I don't know how to measure the small square bales in tons. }

We're in trouble here, folks!
Can anyone suggest something in AL, TN, GA, KY, MS ?

Thanks for tip, but ........
Along with another 2 couples, I am the one that helps the Humane Society in my area with horses, ponies, donkeys, goats, cows, etc......

We buy extra for the purpose of rescue. I am worried will we have MANY rescues this upcoming year.


The barns needing hay are Southern Cross (mostly AQHA in English, Western, Trail, Dressage), B & W Stables (Am. Saddlebred), JMK Quarter Horses (World Champions in halter),and Hollytree Farm ( I also show Dalmatians under Hollytree Dalmatians.)

We have alfalfa being trucked in. The prices are killing us.

Need more help, please......

Ugh, this is what I thought.

We have alfalfa. There was hay here, but the problem is it is not enough and the grass is not growing. The burmuda and others are turning brown in the field.

One man was cutting hay and watched a fire start out from under another tractor ! -they had water tank on the truck and put it out.

I started garden, but letting some of it go because I can't water it all.

We had a split strawberry crop..... some killed by frost and later variety did well.

Blueberries were heavy damaged by a frost, the blackberries are looking good.

I've still not heard back from AL Farmers Federation or my county exchange officer.

Ya'll keep looking and I'll do the same !!!!!

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Deborah -

You don't allow a e-mail - How can I reach you?.
Can you e-mail me by clicking on to my name ?

We need bales and good, clean hay with no blister beetles. Burmuda, Tifton, timothy, orchard grass, Dallis grass, clover, mixes of these, etc.

NOT PICKY !!!! Just need something we can afford. At $8 total for a bale and we get 1,000 that equals $8,000 !


I have other people looking now. I've talked to Ag. Commissioner and my Senator. They are trying to work with Truckers Associations and seeing what National Guard can do - but Nat'l Guard has been really used in Alabama for Iraq and Afghanistan. Trains raise price 3 x the amount of hay.

Alabama has sold 50,000 more cattle at this point in the year than last year BECAUSE we can't get hay !

Need ROLLS, too !


HELP ! ?

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Answer 1

here is a web site that may help. http://cattletoday.net/ it has a search for products near you using zip code. I have found hay from hear and it usually is a good price. I know how you feel I couldn't find hay a couple of years ago and ended up having it shipped from over 300 miles away. It cost a fortune to ship so i got enough for several years. Good Luck

Answer 2

There's hay advertised in TN - they've gotten enough rain to cut. Lawrence and Wayne county area I'd seen ads for $25-30 for large rolls; not sure about small bales. I've seen quite a bit in the field when I go up there and the fields look clean. It's seriously going to be a case of taking whatever you can find this year - there's just not much around. There's been some cutting north of Jasper - but I don't know that anyone has sold any because of the drought. But southwest of Nashville I saw quite a few ads for it and quite a bit in the fields.

There's also places on line that you can list to get/sell hay.

Answer 3

We have hay in Indiana and Illinois but I am sure freight will make it less affordable. Our hay is not as good as it has been and I am sure in time in will dwindle too. Although lately we have had much needed rain. If I can help you contact me and I can get you in touch with some people. The Alfalfa around here goes for about $6.00 per sqare bale, I have seen it go for less. Grass hay usually much less than that. We normally don't have a problem with blister beetles. I can think of one of the bigger horse hay suppliers in our area that has semi trucks and I know that he delivers to surrounding states. Let me know if you need contact info. Meanwhile good luck.

Answer 4

I bought my first horse at 16 that was 20 yrs ago, went to work and saved all my money, didn't spend extra on new clothes and so on. Used what I had, and bought a less expensive horse. Before I was 16 I babysat for 2 yr and saved all that. When I was 22 bought another and same just saved, and my third I was much older and already had a savings. So bottom line work and save:) Best of luck O and make sure to save several hundred extra for things that come up and believe me they do.

Answer 5

Good Luck! We had a horrible drought last year here in Oklahoma and grass hay hit $100.00 for the big round bales when you could find them. There is a web site that specializes in hay, www.hayexchange.com I lost friends because I refused to sell my hay after scrambling for it and I barely had enough to keep my animals going. Hope that helps!

Answer 6

Try looking online there is a great place called "The Haybarn" we had the same problem last year here in Ok. It was awful and the hay was really pricey. Try looking online. You should have people trucking it in for sale somewhere? We found some good resources on the above website.

Answer 7

well we r feeling the hay shortage in S.W. GA as well. many ppl have sold their animals already . i dont think ur gonna have any luck looking 4 hay in GA ..a few local feed stores have been trucking some hay in from other places but the price they r charging is outrageous! I will listen out 4 anyone with hay and let u know if i find any..we all have to help each other !

Answer 8

I live in Washington near Seattle and can't help with finding hay, but I do know that there are 20 square bales to the ton.

Answer 9

You can call your humane society or any horse rescues around you're area. Tell them your story of how need hay. They may be able to find someone that you can get hay from or they may be able to spare some for you to use for a while.

~Good Luck!

Answer 10

Hi, not sure if this helps, but here in Idaho, we have an awesome yr of hay going on, all the farmers are cutting and bailing their first crop. There are thousands of bales out in the feilds right now.....Why dont you call our news paper, (The Shopper) at 1-208-983-1200 and put an ad in the paper for semi truck loads of hay and where you need them sent to, and leave your number for them to call you....they will cut you the size of square bales you need, and round bales, and ship them to you. They dont do to much square bales here anymore, thats usually on request from a customer....The price is pretty cheap here, at $80 a ton....from who I buy mine from....also there is my husbands ex father in law who cuts Timothy hay....it is awesome hay, but last year is was $175 a ton, huge bales though, great hay...and certified.....his name is Larry Knight, his number is 1-208-935-2351 He sells to lots of people out of state and out of town.....Hope this helps...I know what its like to be out of feed for your horses....Good Luck!!