Best way to sale hay

I put up around 4000 sq. bales per year and for 10 years I have sold it to the same people. In other words it was sold when the bale hit the ground. No advertising or hassle trying to sale it. Now things have changed. With 2 years of drout and quality not as good, my customers are shopping around for cheaper prices and better quality. My hay is still good horse feed but not as good as that of areas that had more rain. I stopped by one of my customers horse farm the other day and noticed her barn was full of hay and it did not come from my place. She sheepishly said she got a good deal and it was real good hay. She did not bother to let me know that I should not be holding her 200 bales for her. Her good deal was the same price I get and she had to go get it. I have always delivered. So with her and some other horse people like her who have done the same thing , I am stuck with 600 bales of good hay in my barn that I will have to go through the hassle of advertising to get rid of it. I think next year I will do things different. I will put it in the barn, advertise it, and it will be first come, first serve. I will get rid of it, get paid for it, and have it over with. No more Mr nice hay man to store it all winter for anyone , and no more deliveries, and no more promises to provide hay to any buyers. It seems to me that now days in order to keep regular customers you have to have a perfect product and sell it cheaper than anyone else. How are other hay growers out there doing it?

before some expert chimes in and tells you how all horse owners are idiots, etc.
I'd hate to see you pull the rug on good customers because you were lucky enough to find an idiot. I'm not on the selling end, but as buying. I want 1st cut good hay and want a fair price. If I can get it from the same place, even better. I'm on my 3rd year with one guy that gives me round bails and stores them at his place under roof and I pick it up as needed. I get 40 rolls and pay him as soon as they are under roof without being rained on. I go check the hay before it is rolled and help take it to storage so I know what I'm getting. I only took 20 from him last summer because he was a little short I had another guy promise 20. The other guy wouldn't let me pay up front, then jacked his price when I asked later. Talked to the 1st guy again and he arranged 20 more rolls for me with the same deal. It's good to know you can depend on something and wash one more worry off. You might try that approach, let the folks check it out and pay up front. Anything not paid by (pick a date) gets advertised and sold.

Good Luck,


Dave

Been there done that. Horsey people always think the hay is greener in some one elses barn. They bounce around like a high school girl with 10 dates for the prom.
Had what I thought was my steady customer poop in my stack last year. All winter she wanted me to garrantee her 1100 bales. When she normally gets 500. I resisted the urge for a wile but finnaly gave in and said I would garrantee her 1100 bales. 1100 is my for sure number of bales I can do no matter what. Rain/ no rain, broke equipment. I can for sure get 1100. Any more than that when every thing comes together is gravy. I dont take money for whats not in the barn.
So to do that I could not take any pre orders from any one else. I had to send them away.

Well normally I get a good bit on the 1st cutting about June 20th or so. last year it was wet around that time and I couldnt get at it until June 30th. I got ahold of her when I had 300 in the barn and said I had them. She said well... We are only going to need 200 bales this year. we needed hay on the 20th and you didnt have any yet. So we got a 1000 bales from some one else. I was very disapointed to say the least. I had turned away 5 other customers to garrantee her the 1100 bales and they had ordered from some one else.

After removing my own foot from my rear. I will not hold, promis,Garrantee or otherwise bind my hands in any way again.

When the hay is in the barn I will email all who I have address for and 1st come 1st served. Then put adds in for what ever is left. Its nice to have steady customers who buy every year. but its a bad idea to count on them up holding their end. Sooner or latter they will disapoint you.

I sell it in the field will make deliveries for extra. Only way to Fly and if a horsy person doesn't like my hay for any reason i tell him or her to go down the road there are plenty of other buyers out there who are more than happy to get it..
Walt

What does 4000 bales of hay sell for?

I dont buy or sell any just curious.
How much hay does a full size horse eat in a day?

If you are gonna sell hay you need to keep a bunch of cows and feed the average & poor stuff yourself. Then sell the best when you get a chance or carry it over to the next year.

I average about 700 round bales per year. I have a pretty good customer base that has bought from me for quite a few years. A lot of these people bring a new person or two each year. Some stay, some move on to someone else. Once in a while a regular leaves, but another new one replaces them soon enough. My system for years has been to wait till about the middle of December to start advertizing. By then most of my volume buyers have thier hay and for the rest of the year it's the few who buy two to ten bales a week. My advertizing costs me an average of $40.00 a month and brings me plenty of sales to cover that expense. Once I get down to enough to cover my regulars for the remeinder of the year, I stop ads and just wait to empty the barn before first cut. I like coming into first cut with at least 10 to 20 bales left over. That way I don't have my weekly regulars looking elswhere for the hay they need year round. I don't "store" hay for anyone. I don't take prepay from anyone. It's all first come first serve. And my regulars know that I will have thier hay all year every year if they keep showing up. Wait till the last minute and expect to come after a big volume and you just might be outa luck.
That's the way I've been doing it for the last 5 years and it works well for me. Your milage may vary.
Ron

We are the''dreaded''' horse people I guess. For the record, NOT all horse people are bad. We are going on our 4th year with the same hay guy. We get the same price every year, regardless as to what the market is doing. If hay is $4 a bale, we still get it at what we paid for it 3 years ago. Nice to know there are still some good folks around. He and I have become good friends, and he has a section of his barn set off for my hay. When I need hay, I go and get it. I load up and go, even if he aint home. The next time, I had him cash for what I took. I may go 3 or 4 weeks without catching up with him. He knows I'll always square up, and I know I'll always have hay when needed.........