Okay, I've just about quit selling hay!

[Walkin Horse]

From the horsemans side I can tell you it's just as bad. When I started out everybody told me you need to take care of your hay man and your ferrier. They are hard to find.

First hay guy was a reference that somebody knew. Pretty good hay at first. One time he loade my trailer then jacked me up $3 a bale. One time he called all excited. Baling 6 miles away get over here now. Leave work go get trailer and I wait an hour while the baler s!!ts out 2 wet bales and that was it. They started to heat after I got them back and had to be torn open to cool off. Final straw was oh yea I can supply you all winter. Then he calls in October and says I can't supply you. Yeh right got a better price for it.

Next guy was 50 miles away and loved to bale it wet. Bust open a bale and it looked like cooked wet spinach. Get it back and it would stink like wet apple cinnamon fermented pie. That's the only way I can describe it.

Another one died during hay season and left me hangin.

Then my wife's eye doctor wanted to sell us hay. Eye doctor part time goat farmer and hay producer. He had a fascination with his 2 teenage sons running the hay business. They could have cared less about hay or whether they were there to load it at the appointed time. The last load from them came on a Dec evening. One of the kids showed up late just before dark and loaded me. Then he took off while I strapping down. I got stuck pulling a slick muddy hill and had to go get the landowner to pull me. I never bothered calling them again. I figured if that's the way they want to do business I'd move on.

Then I started buying from a "friend" that fancies himself as a hay broker. $35 a bale delivered and he would unload it. He dropped a bale on the hood of tractor. Then the next year he want $35 a bale and $43 a load fuel surcharge. But before he could haul any him and his supplier had a falling out. Then I found out in a drunken conversation with him that he was paying $17 a bale.

So then I found a guy who loved to bale leaves and sticks in a brier patch. But the hay was cheap enough and he would deliver. But then boarders started whining about the quality. Switch again.

The new guy this year has 2 partners to help out. They seem to care about horse quality hay. They have taken us out before they cut and showed us the grass and lack of weeds. They spray and fertilize instead of cutting whatever comes up. They rack the outside trash and leaves in the woods instead of baing it. The hay is cut at the right time instead of trying to grow more profit into it. And they actually use a moisture meter. They have supplied me with over 200 bales this year and gave me 90 days to pay it off. These are the kind of hay people I like to deal with.

In all the times I have gone to get hay I can think of one time I didn't have my act together. I had low tire on my trailer and had to get them to help me air it up. So I guess the hay business works both ways.

But thanks to all you hay producers out there for keeping our hay burners going.

 

[Threepoint]

Because all too many horse owners haven't a clue themselves as to what constitutes 'horse hay'. [snip]

Probably so. All the more reason they should ask if it's horse hay.

 

[ruffdog]

Well let's see, people who tell you to reserve 300 bales for them (and never show), people who say they will help load or unload it and are no shows, people who don't have the money ("I left my wallet at home"), people who swear the check will be good someday, people who show up drunk ("got any cold beer?"), people who show up with friends who are just scouting for stuff to steal, people whose truck won't hold 20 bales because of all the tires, toolboxes, old hot water tanks, and a generator (???) in the back, people who's stupid kids get a sliver in their pinky and need emergency room help, people who argue over who got their first, people who show up with a copy of a Craigslist ad and demand a lower price (The ad indicates 3 year old hay). And that was just this year.

Fortunately, I tend to have a lot of fun with them, especially when I do the math for number of bales times price per bale.

Have not had any counterfeit money yet, but there are still a few weeks yet to go this year...

lol lol lol ....you got them over by you too? I want a flake shirt too. The horse people next door are not bad but some of the others are FLAKES! Many want, no, EXPECT something for nothing. When helping people like that, your lucky to get cold water out of a hose for helping them all day. Nope, not even a cold beer at the end of the day. I'm getting choosier volunteering to help doing hay work now. :talktothehand:

 

[jwstewar]

....
Another one died during hay season and left me hangin.

....

Yeah, I'm sure he had that at the top of his mind as his last thought.

We don't have horses, we have goats. We have issues as well when buying hay, oh, you have goats. They can eat any old crap you throw at them. Uh, no they can't. Goats are actually very sensitive and require pretty good quality hay to maintain - especially dairy goats. Though, if boers or dairy either one get sick, they can lose weight so fast it is scary. They will look fine one day and the next be nothing but skin and bones. What takes them a day to lose, takes a month to gain back. So we have to be pretty careful with what we feed them as well.

 

[mattv1]

I want a shirt for sure.....

 

[Soundguy]

it goes both ways too.

Around me are 3 large growers / cutters. the one closest to me. right around the corner actually, 3 times in a row now has burned me. I call, ask when they will be there, ask when they want me to show, call when i'm on the road to give them a heads up. 10m before.. then show up and they have just ran out to do somethig. twice i wasted an hour waiting to see if someone would show and non returned calls. the third time when i pulled in and no one was there i left. each time they call back DAYS later and say sorry and offer to give me a feww bail when i get the others i wanted.. but by then i've already driven farther down the road to get my hay. Hitching my 30' gn and getting out to grab hay along with 2 jobs means i have to plan my timing.. I can't drive my f450 to work with trailer attached , meaning i have to plan time to get home, hitched, loaded, back and parked, switch vehicles and get back to work.

showing up and having the seller not be there.. constantly.. that causes issues.

anyway. just saying. it goes both ways.

 

[Walkin Horse]

Yeah, I'm sure he had that at the top of his mind as his last thought.

I said that as humor. I doubt he cares. But he did have decent hay. Like Soundguy said it goes both ways. I doubt the OP has never pissed off any of his customers either. I have found the best hay producers are the ones that respect the horse and other stock people and not just selling leftover hay that he didn't need for his cattle.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

I just want 4 bales a year for my home archery range. I show up with my truck, I hand you the cash, I toss the bales in and tie them down and drive home and we're both happy. Don't care if it's straw, feed quality, weeds, or even wild hemp; so long as it's not rotted, and not baled brush. (Has anyone actually used a baler on a row of mostly twiggy brush (1/32 to 1/4 inch diameter stuff? /shudder))

 

[Walkin Horse]

Yes I think I bought that bale last year. Plus the briars.

 

[Soundguy]

sounds exactly like what I've seen.

my farrier sells hay as well. told me he had cut had xxx bales for sale, get mine early as he sells out fast.

I call him right back and put in my order. he cant load immediatly. wait a couple weeks. in the mean time, hay goes on sale down the road. i call my farrier and he says no problem, load this next week. next week happens. he decides not to sell hay, and the place down the road is now sold out.. nice..

From the horsemans side I can tell you it's just as bad. When I started out everybody told me you need to take care of your hay man and your ferrier. They are hard to find.

First hay guy was a reference that somebody knew. Pretty good hay at first. One time he loade my trailer then jacked me up $3 a bale. One time he called all excited. Baling 6 miles away get over here now. Leave work go get trailer and I wait an hour while the baler s!!ts out 2 wet bales and that was it. They started to heat after I got them back and had to be torn open to cool off. Final straw was oh yea I can supply you all winter. Then he calls in October and says I can't supply you. Yeh right got a better price for it.

Next guy was 50 miles away and loved to bale it wet. Bust open a bale and it looked like cooked wet spinach. Get it back and it would stink like wet apple cinnamon fermented pie. That's the only way I can describe it.

Another one died during hay season and left me hangin.

Then my wife's eye doctor wanted to sell us hay. Eye doctor part time goat farmer and hay producer. He had a fascination with his 2 teenage sons running the hay business. They could have cared less about hay or whether they were there to load it at the appointed time. The last load from them came on a Dec evening. One of the kids showed up late just before dark and loaded me. Then he took off while I strapping down. I got stuck pulling a slick muddy hill and had to go get the landowner to pull me. I never bothered calling them again. I figured if that's the way they want to do business I'd move on.

Then I started buying from a "friend" that fancies himself as a hay broker. $35 a bale delivered and he would unload it. He dropped a bale on the hood of tractor. Then the next year he want $35 a bale and $43 a load fuel surcharge. But before he could haul any him and his supplier had a falling out. Then I found out in a drunken conversation with him that he was paying $17 a bale.

So then I found a guy who loved to bale leaves and sticks in a brier patch. But the hay was cheap enough and he would deliver. But then boarders started whining about the quality. Switch again.

The new guy this year has 2 partners to help out. They seem to care about horse quality hay. They have taken us out before they cut and showed us the grass and lack of weeds. They spray and fertilize instead of cutting whatever comes up. They rack the outside trash and leaves in the woods instead of baing it. The hay is cut at the right time instead of trying to grow more profit into it. And they actually use a moisture meter. They have supplied me with over 200 bales this year and gave me 90 days to pay it off. These are the kind of hay people I like to deal with.

In all the times I have gone to get hay I can think of one time I didn't have my act together. I had low tire on my trailer and had to get them to help me air it up. So I guess the hay business works both ways.

But thanks to all you hay producers out there for keeping our hay burners going.