4 ms·

But hay is usually very local, yes? Because it's hard to transport it a long way. So normally a farmer puts a sign by the road saying 'hay for sale' and people

But hay is usually very local, yes? Because it's hard to transport it a long way. So normally a farmer puts a sign by the road saying 'hay for sale' and people in the local area buy/sell it to each other as needed. Under what circumstances would you need to get hay from a long way away? Are there specialist Hays?

boomboomsubban 5y ago
You can live just miles away from a farm and never drive past it. I don't get the cross state lines sales but this seems like a reasonable replacement for a one line ad in the weekly paper/notice at the bottle shop.
troymc 5y ago
Here in Saskatchewan, it was unusually dry this year, so the amount of hay was way less than normal. I heard figures like 10% to 20% of normal in some areas. As a result, the price of hay went way up, and some people are getting hay from as far away as Ontario. Also, there was an increase in hay bale theft. The thieves typically come to steal the bales in the middle of the night.
- VWWHFSfQ 5y ago
  This is the case in the northwestern areas of USA also. Washington, Idaho, Montana areas. Hay production has been down so the scarcity/prices have gone up. And that also means more theft. The farmers/ranchers are allowed to shoot the wolves that eat their cows, but they can't shoot the hay thieves! So they just grumble and make Uncle Sam pay for it.
Turing_Machine 5y ago
> But hay is usually very local, yes? Because it's hard to transport it a long way. Not necessarily. It's not at all unheard of to truck large loads of hay several states away.
- x86_64Ubuntu 5y ago
  How much is a truckload of hay worth? And does the hay "travel well"? I assume it does, but I'm not a hay-ologist so I don't know.
oflannabhra 5y ago
Yes, there are. Bale shape determines some characteristics of the hay, and While the majority of hay is cut for and consumed by cows, horse hay is another matter. As horses are far more expensive animals, higher quality hay can fetch a premium. And while generally hay is produced and consumed locally, I know of several folks that ship several thousand bales across multiple states.

boomboomsubban 5y ago

You can live just miles away from a farm and never drive past it. I don't get the cross state lines sales but this seems like a reasonable replacement for a one line ad in the weekly paper/notice at the bottle shop.

troymc 5y ago

Here in Saskatchewan, it was unusually dry this year, so the amount of hay was way less than normal. I heard figures like 10% to 20% of normal in some areas. As a result, the price of hay went way up, and some people are getting hay from as far away as Ontario. Also, there was an increase in hay bale theft. The thieves typically come to steal the bales in the middle of the night.

VWWHFSfQ 5y ago
This is the case in the northwestern areas of USA also. Washington, Idaho, Montana areas. Hay production has been down so the scarcity/prices have gone up. And that also means more theft. The farmers/ranchers are allowed to shoot the wolves that eat their cows, but they can't shoot the hay thieves! So they just grumble and make Uncle Sam pay for it.

Turing_Machine 5y ago

> But hay is usually very local, yes? Because it's hard to transport it a long way. Not necessarily. It's not at all unheard of to truck large loads of hay several states away.

x86_64Ubuntu 5y ago
How much is a truckload of hay worth? And does the hay "travel well"? I assume it does, but I'm not a hay-ologist so I don't know.

oflannabhra 5y ago

Yes, there are. Bale shape determines some characteristics of the hay, and While the majority of hay is cut for and consumed by cows, horse hay is another matter. As horses are far more expensive animals, higher quality hay can fetch a premium. And while generally hay is produced and consumed locally, I know of several folks that ship several thousand bales across multiple states.