Hay is molding...mold hay is gone!! Empty loft!
Sept 21, 2017 8:50:10 GMT -5
Debbie Lincoln likes this
Post by Applelonia on Sept 21, 2017 8:50:10 GMT -5
So, correct me if I'm wrong, but it says it was $1800 for 250 bales of hay, 60# each??? If it is, you're getting screwed on price. To put it nicely.... Or I'm mis understanding the numbers. That's a ton of $$. I can get 50# bales of gorgeous hay for $3.50/bale. Sometime $4/bale. And I'm only 1 state away from you. It better be gold for the price your paying.
Wet hay is wet hay. Now, it IS very hard this time of year to get hay dry. It's heavy dew every morning, it just doesn't dry as well as it does earlier in summer. But its still wet hay. And wet hay will likely mold.
Prior to this damp hay I've been getting lovely hay from him. He has nice quality hay that the cows have done well on. I requested soft, rich alfalfa, grass mix ...without any hard alfalfa stems...hence him waiting until third cutting. He had some nice second cutting but it got rained on. He baled that in rounds and it was gone immediately to a guy with beef cattle. He's been doing hay for decades and usually does over ten thousand squares and I'm not sure how many rounds of organic hay. Most years he sells out. This year he had way less hay. I know talking to one of our neighbors who runs mostly conventional land that the hay needed to be sprayed for pests and the organic land was left without treatment. The bug sprayed hay grew nicely ...organic did not. Very short. Unfortunately the main cutting got rained on. It's been a rough year around here for hay. The other hay we found is slightly more mature when cut because he left it past the time window when so many people cut around here when second cuttings got rained on. It is nice and dry. Not as rich and has a nice amount of grasses in it.
I wouldn't want to be in the hay business..seems so touchy. Lots of our hay guys customers are horse people...they tend to be pickier. Although I think I'm right up there on his list of picky customers. So, I suspect it is what it is. I needed hay ...it was the only hay he had left besides another cutting that got rained on that is still in the field. He was trying to get me the rich, alfalfa hay I requested and the weather and growth just didn't work in his favor. Worst case it goes moldy and I'll need to advertise free hay and hope some beef farmer doesn't mind and takes it away. But if hay is scarce I might need to feed it mold or not and monitor and hope for the best.