# Alfalfa



## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

How much are you paying for Alfalfa? 

I am starting to buy it in bulk like grass hays, kids grow so much better on the alfie! But they want $500+ per ton!!

All alf. hay in Alaska is shipped up on barges or transported on trucks through Canada. :doh: $$$$$$$$$.... lol.
So, anyone planning a trip to Alaska and want to bring me quite a bit of hay??


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I got mine from my neighbor....2nd cut at $1.50 per square bale...averaging 30-40lbs

Sorry..can't ship you any :hug:


----------



## Katemary63 (Nov 30, 2010)

We can't buy alfalfa hay here. I use the bagged pellets.


----------



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I think it's averaging about $3.50-5.00 a bale here a few weeks ago, not sure about now since the weather is changing. My husband brought home some from work, but we haven't bought any yet, might do the alfalfa pellets depending how much they cost, simply because we don't have a place to store anymore hay! <We bought some large round bales>.


----------



## peggy (Aug 11, 2010)

We pay $5.00 a bale for alfalfa mix here in north central B.C. and I thought that was a little on the high side..... Sorry that you have to pay so much. We had a really dry year and there didn't seem to be the hay crop that we usually see. Good luck.


----------



## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

so $1.5-$5 per bale!
it's $15.75- $23 per BALE here, 50-70lbs

though I think I found some for a flat $15 in Anchorage, so I might drive the 50miles to go pick some up


----------



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Where do you find it for $1.50 a bale?!?!?! It's over $9 a bale where I found it. I was going to get some but...maybe I should do more looking around!


----------



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I just looked on craigslist and see that most people are selling the square bales for $4, and someone has the large round bales for $50. 
Our hay is a mix, we have some alfalfa to start our pregnant does on before/after they kid, but need to get more, we just didn't have a place to put it yet since we bought the other hay <big, round bales>.

There are about 500 horse farms within the surrounding counties, not to mention the private, small farms with various animals. So... there is always hay, and it's always for sale. BUT I hate to think of the prices here in another month or so.

Our hay came from a farm that isn't used for much, but the previous owner was top breeder of thoroughbred horses for 3 years in a row, and needed a bigger facility <this was where they kept their stallions>. So... I figure if their top stallions were eating the grass....my goats can eat the hay they are cutting from this same grass! hehe....


----------



## myfainters (Oct 30, 2009)

We pay $10 a bale (100#'s) in the summer.....winter it usually goes up to $13 or so. 3/4 to a bale a day on average plus they eat a grain mix.


----------



## FarmGirl18 (Oct 5, 2007)

I pay $7.00 for 70-80 pound square bales, pretty average for around here.


----------



## FunnyRiverFarm (Sep 13, 2008)

Around here it averages about $4 for a 60-70lb bale this year...and that for the REALLY good stuff. You can get average quality alfalfa for $2.50-$3/bale. 4x4 round bales are $30-45 depending on the quality. 

At the prices you're paying, I would just feed alfalfa pellets at 2-3lb/adult goat and put out your local grass hay free choice...atleast with the pellets there's no waste. I find that even with the best hay, the goats always waste some and I would hate to see ANY of a $20 bale of hay go to waste!


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

$7 to $10 for a 100lb bale .... depending on hay quality....


Wow Katrina... that is a really high price.....wish I could help.....  :hug:


----------



## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Sounds like a trip to Anchorage, that's what I'd do in your case.

You all have great prices! 3rd cut squares here are $13.95, really nice.


----------



## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

another q:

how many cuttings per year do you get? 
we have 1..maybe 2 here usually


----------



## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

I buy it 2 bales at a time since I only have 2 does.. and I pay around 14.00 per -- W. Washington


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

In my area...West Central PA, Theres and average of 2 cuttings, depends on weather, last year my neighbor got 3 cuttings and a farmer 25 miles from me got 4 cuttings.
Since my neighbor has a small herd of beef, he plants alfalfa, clover and has mixed grass fields, some do better than others and I of course get my order in for a winters worth of hay as soon as the mower is out! This year I have 60 bales of alfalfa and 80 of not so good stemmy clover...odd but my boys would rather have the clover, I mix it up daily tho so it's like half and half. Also, when I can,. I help unload hay wagons, stack in the mow or DH will rake the fields for bailing


----------



## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

they usually get 4 cuttings in eastern wa. a good 125 normally-140 lbs if it's three tie.


----------



## FunnyRiverFarm (Sep 13, 2008)

AlaskaBoers said:


> another q:
> 
> how many cuttings per year do you get?
> we have 1..maybe 2 here usually


We pretty much always get 3...sometimes 4


----------



## Rogersfarm (Jan 24, 2010)

Wow ,I thought our prices were high. Our small bales (I dont know how much they weigh ) but they have gone down since the summer and we are paying 7.00 per sm bale.


----------



## Myakkagoater (Apr 10, 2010)

I have a cousin that raises it in Kentucky. I pay $4.00 per bale. Bales weigh around 60lbs. He has about 3000 of them right now in his loft. He typically gets 3 cuttings. The first cutting is generally kinda stemmy so he rolls all of it and sells it to local dairy farms. His other cuttings are stored out of the sun and in a dry hayloft for winter sales. My goats absolutely love it. I have tried to feed other hays but they pick through it so much that the majority of it ends up on the stall floor. So it is a better deal for me to just by alfalfa instead of the grass hays that are available around here in Florida. Even by the time I add gas to the cost it still is a better deal. i have a large enclosed trailer that I take to Ky. with me whenever I go. I will fill it up with 85 bales and head south. That will last me quite a while. My wifes horses love it as well. If I see I am getting ready to go back I will sell what I have left and pick up more when I return. It works out well that way. Always nice fresh, sweet smelling hay. The girls and kids love it.




Tom


----------



## dtincoelemari (Nov 16, 2010)

Wow, I guess im not doing so bad in what I pay for my hay lol Depending on the time of year, I pay $7.00 to $10.00 a bale for alfalfa, $5.00 to $7.00 for 50/50 alfalfa/grass hay and $3.00 to $5.00 for grass hay. plus it get's delivered from their farm to my house free (about 90 miles round trip) and they unload and stack it for me.
Im not sure how much the bales weigh but I can't hardly move them myself :doh: 
And from what guys were saying they get 3 or 4 cuts a year depending on how much snow/rain there was up north. The better the colorado flows the more they can water the crop as I understand it.


----------



## fcnubian (Oct 23, 2007)

$4 to $4.50 for a 70ish pound bale.


----------



## newtopygmies (May 26, 2010)

I haven't really looked around much but I think it runs about 8.00 a bale.

I usually go with bermuda or "mixed" hay.


----------



## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

We have never sold Alfalfa hay for more then $6.00 a bale. It's normally $5.00 and grass hay is $4.00-$5.00. And we normally get 3-4 cuttings a year but these last 2 years have been bad for us and we have only gotten 2-3 cuttings.


----------



## newmama30+ (Oct 4, 2010)

We grow our own alfalfa and the last two years got four cuttings off of it, plus roadsides for grass hay...so we don't buy alfalfa but DH bought Round Bales of Grass for the goaties to eat free choice $27 a bale...said that Alfalfa went for $150 a ton for the big squares at the sale.


----------

