Hay prices @ current fuel/etc rates.

[OzarkChris]

Being a small guy - only making hay for my own animals - I'm curious if anyone has taken the time to figure out just how much more a bale of hay is costing these days. Say the difference between last year to this year and/or 2019 present.

Since I don't buy fuel more than 200gal at a time, I don't get the 1,000+ gal rate, I don't buy lime, seed, fertilizer (for me it's chicken litter) @ the 25+ ton rate so I know I pay more and I'm using a fairly old small bale machine and sickle cutter so it's not the most efficient setup, but my costs are right about 3X more this year than 2019.

 

[bmaverick]

We've seen small sq bales range from $6 to $12 now in 2022. Depends on content grasses in the bale or grown for horses.

 

[sea2summit]

Well I just spent $432 for oil filters and oil for my two trucks so the price I had worked out for this year is going up for second cut. Prices are insane, repair parts are also out of control.

 

[Hay Dude]

I’m looking at lower take home income this year, despite more gross income. Have all the hay work I want, but with fuel, fertilizer, insurance and parts (check out tires sometime-they go up monthly) I could see the writing on the wall months ago.

 

[OzarkChris]

I’m looking at lower take home income this year, despite more gross income. Have all the hay work I want, but with fuel, fertilizer, insurance and parts (check out tires sometime-they go up monthly) I could see the writing on the wall months ago.

Thanks! Are you seeing the roughly 3X increase I'm seeing or is most of my 3X just because I'm using outdated equipment?

 

[Hay Dude]

Fertilizer 3X
Fuel 2.5X
Lubricants 1.5-2X
Tires up 50%
General Parts (batteries, filters, nuts/bolts, etc.) up 50%
Twine, net wrap, etc up 25-50%

LGB (Let’s go Bale)

 

[oosik]

My neighbor to the south is a cattle rancher and he does custom cutting also. His general comments are the same as Hay Dude in post #4. To the benefit of all ranchers in this area - the cool, wet unseasonable weather this year has created an unusual abundance of grass on the open range lands.

The major concern now - what will the wildfire season be like this fall - with all this grass.

 

[Hay Dude]

Well I just spent $432 for oil filters and oil for my two trucks so the price I had worked out for this year is going up for second cut. Prices are insane, repair parts are also out of control.

Terrible, isn’t it?
With the sudden, dramatic increases in costs, inflation, fuel, etc. it feels like a concerted effort to push small businesses into bankruptcy. We know lots of new regulations and probably higher taxes are headed our way.
WOTUS will probably return, too with a vengeance to make farmers lives even more miserable.
LGB! (Let’s Go Bale!)

 

[sea2summit]

Terrible, isn’t it?
With the sudden, dramatic increases in costs, inflation, fuel, etc. it feels like a concerted effort to push small businesses into bankruptcy. We know lots of new regulations and probably higher taxes are headed our way.
WOTUS will probably return, too with a vengeance to make farmers lives even more miserable.
LGB! (Let’s Go Bale!)

It’s hard to touch this without getting political. But folks who can pay…lobbyists…seem to be doing okay.

Put down 21 acres yesterday for a neighbor yesterday, have been doing it for free for him. Not sure how much longer I can. But…let’s go bale anyway.

 

[ultrarunner]

Gas up 50 cents in SF Bay Area now after slow decline last year.