One of the most common food consumables of herbivores is hay, which is basically composed of cut and dried grasses, legumes, and other types of herbaceous plants. Most of the time, it is stored for the consumption of grazing and domesticated livestock such as cattle or cows, goats, horses, and sheep. Smaller animals like guinea pigs, hamsters, and rabbits also eat hay and has been included in their daily diet. Although pigs are not classified as herbivores, you can still feed them with hay occasionally since their bodies could not digest such food as effectively as herbivores can.
On this note, if you are taking care of livestock, then you need ample amounts of hay for the animals. But how much does a bale of hay cost as of the present time?
According to Internet Hay Exchange, the current average price of a bale of hay ranges from $5.68 to $157.71, depending on the quantity, your location, shape and size of the bales, as well as, whether it contains alfalfa or not. But if you specifically want to purchase a bunch of horse hay, then the average horse hay prices may be around $121 for every ton of grass hay and $165 for a ton of alfalfa hay.
Typical Costs of Hay
To give you an idea on the typical cost of a bale of hay, here are some sale bale of hay listings as provided by Internet Hay Exchange, horse hay prices from Arizona-based All About Horses and U.S. Department of Agriculture.
– Small Square Bales without Alfalfa $5.68
– Small Square Bales with Alfalfa $9.61
– Big Rounds of All Types of Hay $44.70
– Hay for every Ton without Alfalfa $118.77
– Alfalfa for each Ton $157.71
Costs of Hay According to Location
How much does a bale of hay cost in Arizona? Apparently, the horse hay costs depend on where you are in the state.
*If you are between Phoenix and Tucson, then here are some companies and their respective hay prices per bale:
|
Company |
Address |
Alfalfa |
Bermuda |
|
Chitwood Family Feed & Supply |
19884 N Maricopa Rd Maricopa, AZ |
$9.50 |
$14 |
|
Pet Club |
21145 John Wayne Pkwy. Maricopa, AZ |
$11.99 |
$14.99 |
|
CAL Ranch Stores |
1116 E Florence Blvd. Casa Grande AZ |
$17.99 Compressed: $14.99 |
$19.99 |
*When you are within the area of Prescott, here are the hay prices you may want to consider:
|
Company |
Address |
Alfalfa |
Bermuda |
|
Camp Verde Feeds |
584 S Main St Prescott Valley, AZ |
$13.50 |
$17.99 |
|
Warrens Hay & More |
2295 S Az-89, Chino Valley, AZ |
$13.75 |
$16.75 |
|
CAL Ranch Stores |
1048 Willow Creek Rd. Prescott AZ |
$17.99 |
$19.99 |
*How much does a bale of hay cost if you are living in Kingman and Western Arizona? Here are a few companies with their respective horse hay prices.
|
Company |
Address |
Alfalfa |
Bermuda |
|
Stockton Hill Feed & Western |
4250 Stockton Hill Rd. Kingman AZ |
#1 $12.99 #2 $11.99 |
$14.75 |
|
Tractor Supply |
3136A N Stockton Hill Rd Kingman AZ |
$15.99 |
$15.99 |
|
Tractor Supply |
3200 Hwy 95N Lake Havasu City, AZ |
$15.99 |
$15.99 |
*If you are somewhere in California, then here are the average prices of hay in different parts of the state. Please take note that the costs are in tons.
|
Region |
Alfalfa (Quality – Price) |
Forage Mix – Three Way (Quality – Price) |
Wheat (Quality – Price) |
|
North Inter-Mountain |
1. Supreme – $160 for 750 tons 2. High Testing – $165 for 225 tons 3. Premium – Retail/Stable – $120 for 300 tons |
Good – $80 for 220 tons |
|
|
Sacramento Valley |
1. Good – $130 for 150 tons 2. Fair/Good- $120 for 50 tons 3. Fair – $121.18 for 425 tons |
Good – $65 for 100 tons |
|
|
Northern San Joaquin Valley |
1. Supreme – $210 for 55 tons 2. Delivered – $225.90 for 975 tons 3. Premium – $180 for 100 tons 4. Fair – $110 for 1,000 tons |
||
|
Central San Joaquin Valley |
1. Good – Delivered – $195 for 300 tons 2. Delivered – Organic – $325 for 25 tons 3. Fair- Delivered – $125 for 5,000 tons |
Good – Delivered – $100 for 100 tons |
|
|
Southeast California |
1. Good – $110 for 325 tons 2. Fair/Good – Grassy – $80 for 100 tons 3. Weedy – $90 for 150 tons 4. Fair – $90 for 1,150 tons |
*How much does a bale of hay cost in the state of Idaho? Apparently, the average price of a premium, mid-square alfalfa hay is around $135 for 500 tons.
Factors Affecting Hay Costs
– drought affects the horse hay prices, especially in the states of Arizona, California, and Colorado to name a few
– high demand for both grass and alfalfa hays in China, Japan, and UAE where bales and tons of hay are used to feed their domesticated livestock
– costs of fuel greatly affect the hay growers and those who are tasked to deliver the product to the sellers and wholesalers
– farmers expect higher profits if they use their lands to plant and grow hay than planting other profitable crops such as corn, cotton, potatoes, among others