hay prices

[cowman]

Just a note on hay prices. My neighbor sold square bales for 5.10 at the auction mart last week which works out to about one seventy a ton. Good irrigated hay out of Brooks is selling for about two hundred. I have seen ads for standing hay at one hundred a ton. It sure is going to be pricey to keep those old cows this coming winter!

[TOM4CWB]

Cowman,

I know these are big prices, but is anyone but hobby horse people buying?

Is silage going up, there are lots of really nice crops between Edmonton and Calgary, and North Eastern Alberta has one of the better crops in the past few years!

I don't see this being a crisis, because people can buy bale processors and feed staw if hay is short!

Is this not just a matter of perspective?

I heard today that over 2million tonnes of carry over barley in western Canada, yet can anyone buy 1 of those tonnes right now?

Are people not just locked up, not selling till they know better 2nd crop feed supplies?

More Oats went in the ground, barley for greenfeed, when will it arrive on the market for sale?

[cowman]

TOM:
Yes, this market right now is reflecting the horse market but the fact of the matter is there is going to be a serious shortage of hay this winter. The yields around Red Deer, Alta. are coming in at about one third to one half of normal and it gets worse the further you go east. Due to pretty good prices for cattle the last couple of years most people are overstocked and it has been a struggle to pasture cattle this year. Straw is definitely a possibility as well as greenfeed, silage and barley.
The price of all of these will follow the hay prices as cattlemen try to keep numbers up. The guy growing hay is not going to get rich as his yields are so poor. There are some pretty good crops around and hopefully some of the grain guys will make some money this year. But lets face it...this year is going to be tough for everyone! No one wins in a drought.

[melvill]

An irrigation farmer phoned me the other day wondering what I thought of this deal: A cattleman-neighbor wants to buy half a 140-acre pivot of CWRS wheat as greenfeed. The buyer offered $80/ton, standing, (about 90% dry matter - as fed), for the wheat. Somebody is getting serious about a feed supply.

[drome]

We have 500 round bales for sale--some pure alfalfa but mostly alfalfa-timothy mix and alfalfa grass mix. Bale weights are approx 1400lbs from JD 535 baler. Price is negotiable and delivery can be arranged. Contact: Dennis Rome----Phone: 204-824-2220; Fax: 824-2727; E-mail: drome@mb.sympatico.ca