# Is tractor supply a lot more expensive than independent feed stores



## alpinegoats63 (Oct 10, 2014)

A friend told me he was surprised i can afford buying my animal feed at tractor i've never thought about is it a lot more expensive


----------



## nannysrus (Jun 21, 2014)

IMO it's not anymore expensive. My smaller feed stores are only cheaper when it comes to whole oats, barley, and "local" mixes (which IMO are horrible most of the time) I prefer standalee hay cubes and pellets because they are always the same and a good quality. I don't use any premixed grains from tractor supply so I can't comment there but their prices seem the same as the small local nutrena dealer by my house. 




Samantha

"5 minutes of fresh air is equivalent to 5 mg Valium"


----------



## nannysrus (Jun 21, 2014)

The only reason I don't buy my alfalfa pellets from local dealers is because they keep getting them from canada somewhere and my animals won't touch them 


Samantha

"5 minutes of fresh air is equivalent to 5 mg Valium"


----------



## Redheads (Sep 2, 2014)

In my area TSC is alot higher than my local dealer. Keep in mind I have 3 feed stores very close so they are very competive. My the time I drive 30 miles round trip to TSC I have that much more in my feed.


----------



## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

For me I go back and forth for certain things.. Some is cheaper, some the same, and some far more lol! So, my feed store I buy my feed, and I go to TSC for supplies


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree, I get what is cheaper there, then my normal feed store to get other things.


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

nannysrus said:


> The only reason I don't buy my alfalfa pellets from local dealers is because they keep getting them from canada somewhere and my animals won't touch them
> 
> Samantha
> 
> "5 minutes of fresh air is equivalent to 5 mg Valium"


I just got alfalfa pellets from tsc and my goats went crazy for them!!! They never did with the feed store stuff.
Any ways I get some stuff from tsc and some from the feed store.
I just watch prices. I can get this stocker grower cattle grain for way cheaper then the feed store sells wet cob for and it's higher in protein. It took some shopping but finally found a medicated grain that is cheaper then tractor supply sells noble for. The feed store I go to sells a lot of stuff so is able to keep prices lower. Another feed store couldn't even come close to being as cheap as tractor supply on their medicated feed

Sent from my iPhone using Goat Forum


----------



## ariella42 (May 22, 2014)

I think it just depends on your area and how many/what kind of feed stores you have. Typically, chains will be able to sell name brand products at lower prices since they buy in massive quantities and ship items to all or most of their locations. However, they don't carry locally milled feed or locally grown hay at all, and those are usually cheaper, so you might find a better price at a non-chain store or place that mills feed. We don't have much selection for feed stores, so either you go to TSC, Southern States, or one of the tiny feed stores that a couple of cities have. I typically get my feed at Southern States, hay from the small feed store (because Southern States here only carries a fescue mix), and other supplies from TSC.


----------



## nannysrus (Jun 21, 2014)

Jessica84 said:


> I just got alfalfa pellets from tsc and my goats went crazy for them!!! They never did with the feed store stuff.
> Any ways I get some stuff from tsc and some from the feed store.
> I just watch prices. I can get this stocker grower cattle grain for way cheaper then the feed store sells wet cob for and it's higher in protein. It took some shopping but finally found a medicated grain that is cheaper then tractor supply sells noble for. The feed store I go to sells a lot of stuff so is able to keep prices lower. Another feed store couldn't even come close to being as cheap as tractor supply on their medicated feed
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Goat Forum


My goats will only eat alfalfa pellets from tractor supply. They won't touch any other.

I have a ton of feed store options. I can probably name 20 off the top of my head that are within 45min-1 hour away. Problem is that everybody carries the same ol' stuff. I usually end up driving 2-3 hours down into North Carolina to get what I want or 4-5 hours to northern virginia. I don't like my options here around home. Now that I only do fermented grains, alfalfa pellets, BOSS and beet pulp it's not a big deal. I have up on premixed grains a couple years ago when the feed I bought went up to $30 per 50lb and I told the feed store to kiss it cause I wasn't paying that.

Samantha

"5 minutes of fresh air is equivalent to 5 mg Valium"


----------



## Naunnie (Jul 4, 2014)

We shop at TSC for some things. We have two other feed stores close by. I have compared cost at all three. TSC charges almost the same for 40lbs that the feed stores charge for 50lbs. We just priced Oats for example. TSC 40lbs is $16.49. Feed store is $16.00 for 50lbs. We will checking out the feedmill across state line this week!


----------



## Ryann (May 29, 2013)

I get all of my feed at TSC but my mom works there so I get 15% off


----------



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I think TSC is not that bad on their prices, probably pretty average. We buy something very similar to Noble Goat 16% which is $14-15 at TSC but what we get is $11.75 a bag at our feed store. Biggest difference for us is, I have to drive to another county for the closest TSC, when we are always near our feed store


----------



## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

The only way to know for sure is to compare prices. Here I find TSC to run very close to our local feed store in most prices. Consequently, I choose to shop at the local shop instead of TSC most of the time. I'll always shop at a locally owned store over a chain store if the prices will allow me to do so! Besides, my local store will do special orders for me. 

On the other hand, sometimes TSC has more selection. ie. Our local store has only 4 different types of work gloves to choose from and TSC has dozens!


----------



## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

I work at Agway here in N.Y. and their feed prices are cheaper or at least the same as tsc. Like at tsc egg layer is like $14 a bag now and we have our brand that is 12.95. I get employee discount so it works out on the other supplies as well but we're small local feedstores earn most of their profit is the pet food/toys and other supplies. Generally theme is a low margin on feed and the really may only make 50 cents to 2 bucks a bag


----------



## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

My local feed store is Agway too  I love it there.. Better quality grains IMO.. The TSC near me almost always has grain mites all over the bags!
They don't order anything for you, even if it's an item they carry but are out of, they won't place an order for you..
I buy supplies and meds there as my feed store doesn't have a very large selection of most supplies any no meds..


----------



## nannysrus (Jun 21, 2014)

Oh I would die if I seen grain mites!!!


Samantha

"5 minutes of fresh air is equivalent to 5 mg Valium"


----------



## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I get my dog food at TSC-Diamond Naturals Extreme Performance. Can't find it any other place. 

The whole and cracked corn is cheaper at TSC than my local feed store. I don't buy the Tractor supply feeds (Dumor and Producers Choice) and Purina and Nutrena feeds are very expensive. 

The Standlee is more expensive than the local feed too. 

I buy the minerals for the goats and horses at TSC. I buy cattle minerals, which are better than any other goat minerals I can find around here, and cheaper.

I do buy the Purina Stocker Grower for the goats and mix it with the Blue Seal Milk Goat Pellets. It's high in calcium and fairly reasonable in price.

I buy Blue Seal feeds, have for 30+ years. My goats do very well on them and they are not as expensive as most of the TSC feeds.

The dog and cat foods are cheaper at TSC. I like their dog biscuits. Their 4Health is a decent product for a decent price, also. The TSC cat litter is cheaper than any other place too.

My local Agway store is extremely expensive, at least 4.00 more a bag for the goat feed that is 4% less protein than the Blue Seal. Their alfalfa pellets are 6.00 a bag (50 lbs) more expensive! The layer pellets are 3.00 more a bag than the Blue Seal for basically the same thing. Pet food is outrageously expensive. Though it is only 1 1/2 miles from my house, I seldom go there. Even paying for gas to go the extra 7 miles to the local Blue Seal store, I save money over Agway. TSC is right on my way to work, so I stop in there on work days for dog food, biscuits, cat litter/food, Cattle minerals (for the goats) and Stocker Grower.


----------



## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

I worked at the Blue Seal store here the last 6 month's before they closed down. I love their feeds. Agway here took over selling a lot of their feeds but they are now more expensive than the agway brand feeds.


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

That is one thing about a feed store that is better then tractor supply.....they can order the same feed but from different suppliers. The one feed store here is a pain in the butt to order anything from. I wanted him to look for a medicated feed that was cheaper then tsc and he sold me a medicated block lol.......he's just not willing to do home work. The other one is a newer feed store and he and I were talking, basically he was trying to get my business and I told him if he could find a medicated feed cheaper then noble I'm game. A few days later he had it for me. But I did have him look into whole corn for me and he couldn't beat tsc on that. So if you have a feed store that's willing to search for you you might find some stuff more cheap but also more expensive. It's the same distance for me to go to the feed store, either one, as it is to go to tsc so I check prices and still go to all 3 of them


Sent from my iPhone using Goat Forum


----------



## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

rebelINny said:


> I worked at the Blue Seal store here the last 6 month's before they closed down. I love their feeds. Agway here took over selling a lot of their feeds but they are now more expensive than the agway brand feeds.


Oh yes! I feed BS to the goats and Agway hay pellets, the other critters get Agway.. It's just cheaper for nearly the same thing...


----------



## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

My local Blue Seal dealer will order special stuff for me and keep it in stock. He is awesome to deal with. 

TSC will tell me they have something in stock. I'll make a special trip and find out they don't even carry it! I was after a certain dog food. The web site said they had it. I called, they said they had it. I went there and guess what? They don't carry it! I complained to the manager, who said that I could order it and have it shipped to that stop, free, on their next truck and i could continue to do that each week. I tried to do that, but it would only let me ship it to the store UPS! To the tune of 15.00 on top of the 40.00 for the bag of food. Uh....no freaken way! Kiss my grits TSC.


----------



## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

^ that's how my Agway is  they are so awesome! I love them there!

TSC is pretty good to us.. Won't special order or anything of the sorts, but they will call all the other localish stores for us and have them hold things for us.
I just don't like the brands of feed they carry and they always seem to have that grain mite problem...


----------

