Ben D, N CA - 11/4/2011 19:17

Man, I know hay is short, and as a hay grower I know how expensive it is getting to grow. But that is kind of kicking a guy while he is down in my mind.

I'm going to take a wild guess that the freight would be less than $100/ton. Freight from here to San Diego is $100, and that is a little over 830 miles on a dedicated haul, no back hauls, dropdecks or freight trucks. So $100/ton should easily cover the freight for big bales on that haul. Doing the math, there would only be 23 ton on the load, so it must be a backhaul deal anyway, freight might not be half that.

So that puts the hay around $350/ton... almost $100 ton higher than most high end dairy hay right now. I've heard of some around $275 and we've sold some export stuff for $270, but the dairy market just can't pay that price right now. I made a deal with a dairy broker on a few loads to help him out, too many guys where just being greedy, hope he'll remember me when the shoe is on the other foot.... ;) I've actually seen a number of guys selling some dairy hay to longtime brokers for a little less than maybe they could get, it is just getting a little carried away right now. We all need to stay is business. Like one guy told me, "if I can't make it selling hay for $250, $280 won't save me". The extreme high prices are breaking some of the dairies though.