Okay, I've just about quit selling hay!

[Walkin Horse]

So I'm willing to take an early guess and say that by the time this thread is over, that all the stock people will be wearing tee shirts that say " I got my hay from a flake."

 

[MoKelly]

Too funny.

I have to say I don't think this is all that much different than any business that deals with the public. You can get some real strange folks and others that are up to no good.

MoKelly

 

[Big Barn]

Too funny. I have to say I don't think this is all that much different than any business that deals with the public. You can get some real strange folks and others that are up to no good. MoKelly

Yup. As I used to tell my staff: "welcome to retail".

Terry

 

[Walkin Horse]

I guess the difference if any would be that we are going to his house and he his feeding our animals. It makes it a little more personable when we start wasting each other's time. The kid at Home Depot could care less as long as he's getting paid. But when I show up with truck full of junk and he sells me a bundle of weeds that's when the flakey starts.

When I first met the man I'm buying from now he said I will cut all you want but once it's cut it's your. I didn't ask but supposing he would take me to court if I backed out. I told him I needed 150 roundbales minimum. I ended up getting 200. He'd call and say ok we are baling tues here. Come when you can. I always make sure I'm there be fore they move the tractor so they don't have to come back. I show up with a gooseneck ready to haul 17 at a time. Head back unload and go again.

 

[ruffdog]

Good comments from everyone. I agree that if you take the flake buying hay and put them in charge of a haying operation, you will probably have a flake selling hay.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Is there a category for a guy who makes 4,000 small squares and 200 round bales for his wife's horses and tries to not sell any to other horse people so he doesn't have to listen to the complaining or work more hours?

 

[3930dave]

Is there a category for a guy who makes 4,000 small squares and 200 round bales for his wife's horses and tries to not sell any to other horse people so he doesn't have to listen to the complaining or work more hours?

Hay Hoarder, or just Smart, with Enough Land - take your pick. :thumbsup:

What are we going to call this Show - Hay Wars ? The Canuck version - Hay, Eh !

Rgds, D.

 

[sixdogs]

I didn't read all the posts here --because it was too painful of a recollection, but we used to sell horse quality timothy in northern New England. We sold lots of small square bales and almost exclusively to horse people. You just have to learn to deal with them plus understand modern retailing. Horse people are both the best and the worst customers. Like most businesses, 20% of the customers do 80% of the business and the remaining 80% of the customers do 20%. So you concentrate on the big dogs and don't go out of your way for the small fries. That's life.



Unless you were a big dog and I knew you, it's cash only and that's before I dumped the hay. People had all sorts of excuses and I almost had to pull out but they always "found" the cash before I left the yard. I sold to some high profile celebrity types and unless we had an established relationship it was cash or I left with the hay. People with no money or limited funds will try everything to get your hay and give you a paper check or a song and a dance. That's where the heart of stone comes in. You just have to make a business decision and leave with the hay. Remember, they never let me leave because they know I wasn't coming back and they likely burned all their other bridges before they got to me.

If they wanted hay out of the field and didn't give me a deposit, no deal and pay extra out of the barn. Fail to show in the half hour or so window you promised and I load in the barn and you lose the deposit. I never had to make good on this because it rooted out all the losers in advance.

Don't send your wife to get 60 bales in a pick up truck and have no experience or loading help. I already did all the work so this part is up to you.



Argue over the price? "How much can a bale cost"? Well, the first one, if you want that one is about $75,000. The second maybe $37,500 and then down from there. So the price is the price and thank you for stopping to look at my hay. Never had anyone back away from a purchase because of the price.

Anyway, that's the drill. Horse people are fine and long as you get the rules out and don't back down. A plus today is the hay actions that are held. Any hay that doesn't sell can be auctioned off.

 

[Soundguy]

around here, most of the horse people only buy the highest quality hay. for instance. timothy or alfalfa, , tifton/new cut, barn kept coastal.

Anything else, most of the snooty horse people won't buy. Mind you, these are the people that will pay 55-75$ per barn kept coastal roll too. OR.. buy squares only at 6-9$ each.

The rest of us that own cows, and a few pleasure horses or mules and donkey, don't mind clean coastal , barned or not, and even bahia. My cows eat bahia rolls, and the mule i keep in the pasture stands in line just like the cows and chews away happily like no problem. I do try to keep the newer and better and drier looking rolls for my few pleasure horses. Have never had a hay related problem ( feeding ). have had problems when my hay supplier flakes out and isn't there when i need to load!

Only 3 places here will deliver.

One the next city up will deliver hay ONLY if it also has at least 40 bags of feed with it... and their feed is high.. so it's a bum deal.

One place will deliver, but charge 50-75$ even for a local delivery and that's the palce that left me hanging 3 times.. so i wouldn't pee on them if they were on fire.

The third place is a guy that cuts all over and his hay is everything from good stuff to just baled stems and weeds and his prices all go up 5$ a bale after he gets to your place... kind of a shiester...

 

[Murray54]

I could use one of those shirts. I once had someone ask me if they could just take the middle bales out of a stack, they didn't want any of the ones with the ends bleached! At the time I had a 2 wide bale wagon, there were no middle bales.

I swear I want to get a Tee-shirt custom made that says "when selling baled hay, watch out for the FLAKES". Most Hay sellers would appreciate the quote and the real snooty "is it Horse Hay?" types wouldn't get it anyways. I've had more time wasters call and never show up. I've have repeat customers that take nearly every thing I grow so I'm probably not going to advertise anymore. Anyone else want to order a shirt? bjr