I just got a new feed hay customer

[Hay Dude]

Over the weekend I got a call for cow/cattle hay.
I was thinking typical 1-3 bale sale.
He wanted 24 1,800LB bales. He planned to get them in (3) trips of 8 bales each.
His F-350 had electrical system troubles, so he only got 2 done, but paid me in full for all 3 loads.
We talked a lot about his needs and I listened intently to him. He’s coming back for the last load “soon”.

This could be the start of a good business relationship

 

[spruce Deere]

Well, he paid in full. I would say yes to it being a good business relationship.

And hopefully repeating, or a returning customer at least.

 

[Eagle1]

I finally found a hay guy worth something. I have 50 4x5 (or bigger) round bales delivered every year. Easier to have it show up and just I just unload and store afterward. Even at that some years I have to buy a few more to make it work.
He can delivery straight from the fields close to us and that makes him happy.
Gibbs, up the road puts a lot more into his 2 giant hay barns but he feeds well over 100 head

 

[Hay Dude]

Well, he paid in full. I would say yes to it being a good business relationship.

And hopefully repeating, or a returning customer at least.

That’s the most important thing to me.
A $3500 sale is nice, but I like long term customers

 

[Hay Dude]

Must be my lucky year for feed hay????.

I *think* I just got another new customer. He bought the last of my available feed hay. (I still have feed hay, but it’s all “prepaid” and stored for them in 2 barns I have).
He bought 2 4x4x8’s from me last week. Liked them so much, he got my last 2 4x4x8’s yesterday. He asked me for more, but I told him the bad news- I was sold out.

I then asked him if he’d prefer a 4x4x5 bale instead. He said let me think about it. Then he sends me a text a few days later with a photo of a hay feeder he built specifically to hold my 4x4x5 bales and was going to buy 50 of them from me next June. lol

I’m like “wow” this guy is serious!

 

[BleedingOrange]

Haydude, that sounds much better for you than having to struggle with unloading a couple of big bales for a fussy old cheap lady. LOL

 

[zzvyb6]

From what I hear around my part of Michigan, there is a groundswell of folks wanting to know what's in their food, with small (mini) Jerseys and sheep being in the spotlight. Vet told me you couldn't give Jerseys away a few years ago, now the minis are getting popular because they are easy keepers, don't waste food, and you don't need a huge freezer.

Another hay demand is for low sugar horse hay because some breeds of show horses are having hoof problems all of a sudden. It might be because there is a shortage of local hay due to neighborhoods taking over fields, requiring hay being brought in from other parts of the country.

I suggest you have on hand test results of content if you don't already provide it. Its a major selling point now. The low sugar grasses are going for 10-$12 a small square. Otherwise, stable owners have to soak the hay in water for a few days to lower the sugar content down to 6-8%.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Otherwise, stable owners have to soak the hay in water for a few days to lower the sugar content down to 6-8%.

Really?????? I can't imagine anyone soaking hay for a few days prior to feeding. Also can't imagine animals eating it. You know this how??

 

[Shawn T. W.]

The "problem" with getting a nutritional analysis is each field will produce differently, and keeping the bales separate, and the additional cost ... I don't believe he has just one big 400 acre field, but a whole bunch of small ones, 5-20 acres is my impression ...

 

[Hay Dude]

The "problem" with getting a nutritional analysis is each field will produce differently, and keeping the bales separate, and the additional cost ... I don't believe he has just one big 400 acre field, but a whole bunch of small ones, 5-20 acres is my impression ...

My fields range from 10-80 acres.

 

[Hay Dude]

I am advertising my hay as “natural” hay. I hear advertising as “organic” raises all kinda red flags (like you have to have it “certified”, no chemicals for X # of years, etc.)
My hay IS organic, but I don’t advertise as such….maybe I should.

I have found it’s well received by most customers, BUT it seems like they thing un-sprayed hay is going to be as clean as sprayed hay….NOPE. They are going to have to accept the weed content being higher.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Yeah, organic is a whole nother can of worms ... And organic would mean not only no herbicide, but don't think you could even use urea for fertilizer, maybe chicken/turkey clean outs, IF they are organic too, or cow manure from certified farms, not sure how there medical treatments if any would effect there dung ... ?

My fields were more than 50% weeds, including brambles ... So I reluctantly bought a PTO sprayer, and sprayed herbicide, it killed off the weeds for the spring 1st cutting, with a good dose of pelletized fertilizer to give the grasses a good boost to out grow any weeds ... But 2nd cutting had about 15% weeds!

Once you do the herbicide, your kinda stuck sticking to it if you want 100% grasses ... Then you gotta find a buyer with deep pockets!

 

[Hay Dude]

Each year, I have expanded my feed hay sales. Someday, I would like it to be 50% of my total hay sales, as selling mushroom hay is becoming less profitable with each passing year.
Problem is, the feed hay selling growth is slow. Earning people’s trust is a slow painstaking process. I have some good customers now and if these recent few I have gotten buy what they say they will, I’ll be in pretty good shape next year.

 

[zzvyb6]

Really?????? I can't imagine anyone soaking hay for a few days prior to feeding. Also can't imagine animals eating it. You know this how??

My friend boards her spensive horse at a training stable near Flint. The horse 'foundered' (hoof inflamation which usually leads to hoof delamination/separation). This 'process' is quite common I'm told. Their high end hay was coming in at 15-18% 'sugar'. You don't starve the horse for a few days, but keep buckets of hay 'mash' in the queue.

Right now there is a scramble to find 'Teff' hay (never heard of it before). Other types are timothy, bermuda, and orchard. Turns out that weather, cutting time, and maturity greatly affect sugar levels, and barns use slow feeders or soak hay to further reduce sugar intake for metabolic issues. Some feed alfalfa, but never a good idea for 'easy keepers' and non-working animals.

A few hay buyers have been asking for "Non-Structural Carbohydrates (NSC)" counts of my hay. Since I usually cut after noon (when the plants are putting out the highest levels it can be rejected. I traditionally sell 'baled weeds' which the animals love but buyers turn their noses up on because it doesn't look green, fluffy, and vegetarian approved.

Google "low sugar hay for horses" 'Soaking' is common here.

 

[Torvy]

The term "organic" doesnt make sense to me. All food is organic. The same people who insist on "organic" are adamant about labeling, except when a false-moniker makes them feel better.

Congrats. It seems word of mouth is spreading. The thing I've noticed about hay as a business is that, like many crops, the local yield doesn't always match up with the local demand. Have you considered brokering hay when supply runs short? I'm imagining a small consortium with hay dudes in various regions. When you have a low output year, you bring some in from a partner. I know my relations with big farms tend to be buyers some years and sellers in others.

 

[Hay Dude]

My friend boards her spensive horse at a training stable near Flint. The horse 'foundered' (hoof inflamation which usually leads to hoof delamination/separation). This 'process' is quite common I'm told. Their high end hay was coming in at 15-18% 'sugar'. You don't starve the horse for a few days, but keep buckets of hay 'mash' in the queue.

Right now there is a scramble to find 'Teff' hay (never heard of it before). Other types are timothy, bermuda, and orchard. Turns out that weather, cutting time, and maturity greatly affect sugar levels, and barns use slow feeders or soak hay to further reduce sugar intake for metabolic issues. Some feed alfalfa, but never a good idea for 'easy keepers' and non-working animals.

A few hay buyers have been asking for "Non-Structural Carbohydrates (NSC)" counts of my hay. Since I usually cut after noon (when the plants are putting out the highest levels it can be rejected. I traditionally sell 'baled weeds' which the animals love but buyers turn their noses up on because it doesn't look green, fluffy, and vegetarian approved.

Google "low sugar hay for horses" 'Soaking' is common here.

What my buyers do is cover the bales with a thick heavy net while inside the hay hut to keep them from gorging themselves. It “regulates” their intake and makes them work harder to eat the bale. Reduces waste, too.
I have a British lady that buys hay from me, one of the few horse hay women I sell to with a functioning brain, and she does NOT like treated or high-end hay. She insists her horses are fed naturally occurring field grasses. They look thin, in a healthy way. The gallop, buck and look excellent.

 

[Hay Dude]

The term "organic" doesnt make sense to me. All food is organic. The same people who insist on "organic" are adamant about labeling, except when a false-moniker makes them feel better.

Congrats. It seems word of mouth is spreading. The thing I've noticed about hay as a business is that, like many crops, the local yield doesn't always match up with the local demand. Have you considered brokering hay when supply runs short? I'm imagining a small consortium with hay dudes in various regions. When you have a low output year, you bring some in from a partner. I know my relations with big farms tend to be buyers some years and sellers in others.

There’s a hay “co-op” about 40 miles SW of me in Maryland. I like the sounds of it, but I have always been kind of a “lone wolf” and don’t want some jackass trying to make hay for a hobby bringing down my hay prices.
We already have way too many of them. I believe in Capitalism, but when a guy is selling round bales for $40 and I’m trying to put food on the table, it’s enough already.

Like what if you are a framing carpenter and a retired millionaire decides to go into the framing carpentry business “for fun” and just needs to make enough money to cover his expenses?

We have that HERE in MY area. We actually have a rich multi-millionaire who bought his spoiled kid a complete set of haying equipment to go have “fun” and get him out of the house. We also have a couple retired guys that are “bored” making/selling hay for beer money and to relieve boredom, or get away from their nagging wives.

 

[Torvy]

I'm thinking more like you have a loose association with a guy in, say, East Tennessee or North Florida (random examples). In years where one of you has a bumper crop and another is lean, you can move excess hay to the lean area. That hay will have a higher cost of goods, so you'll probably sell it with a surcharge. The idea is to just have access to extra supply to ensure your best customers don't wander because you are 'out'. Typically, if you have a rough year, so will your local competitors.

Our biggest problem is that as a small operation, we are on the bottom of the food chain for loggers and such.

 

[EddieWalker]

The guy I buy my hay from got a new dairy farm client last year. He delivers round bales to him once a month with an 18 bale self dumping trailer.

He delivers two loads to my place every year. I paid $65 each for a 4x5.5 round bale this year. Delivery is an extra $100 which saves me a lot of time because I can only haul 5 bales at a time with my truck and trailer. Two years ago the rains didn't happen all summer and I paid twice that much per bale when we finally got some rain in the Fall.

He is very happy with his Dairy Farm client. He's hoping he can find more like that, but like you said, it's slow going finding new clients.