Marketing Hay To The Fast Growing Horse Industry

• Dr. Tim L. Stanton• Owner/Manager of

Sunset Stables LLC• Extension Feedlot

Specialist for 25 years

How does one find horse stables or horse owners willing to buy your

hay?• Phone book/website

• North Forty News, Fence Post, Thrifty Nickel, Newspapers, Local Horse Publications

• Hay haulers

• What do stables want?– People that want to board or breed horses

How do you make the connection?

• Personal contact– Phone call– Visit stable– email

• Advertisement

• Bring a sample of your hay with analysis

How do you keep repeat business?

• Deliver quality at a fair price

• Ask your customers what they want!– Be ready to provide it

• Know your product

• Minimize variability

Hay quality assessment

• Free of mold, dust, & foreign material

• Free of weeds & blister beetles

• Fresh smell

• Leafy & green without a lot of stems

• Lab analysis??

Horse Hay Reality

• Hay weight x digestibility = performance + manure

• Eating rate - palatability

• Uniformity in bale weight

Hay Classification

• Horse hay $100-250/ton– Priced by bale ( small squares) or ton

• Dairy hay $110-180/ton– Priced on RFV basis/ton (big packages)

• Cow hay $80-150/ton– Priced per ton

• Mulch/erosion control price ???

Hay Cost and Board Fees

$/ton 30 lbs $/month $300/month

100 1.50 45.00 255.00

125 1.88 56.25 243.60

150 2.25 67.50 232.50

175 2.62 78.75 221.40

200 3.00 90.00 210.00

225 3.37 101.25 198.75

Hay Costs and Board Fees

• For every $25/ton increase in hay prices, one must increase board fees about $11.25 per month to offset the hay $ increase. – @ 30 lbs hay/horse/day

• Can we decrease lbs/head/day and still maintain body condition?– Yes, if we purchase higher quality hay!

Hay Quality Determination

• Stage of maturity when cut

• Lack of weathering

• Handling during harvest

• Duration and conditions of storage– Minimize bottom or top bale spoilage– Don’t send cow chips and rocks– Weed free as possible

Storage Losses

• Inside 5-10%• Outside on ground 8-29%• 2 yrs 13-32%

• Bottom bales - to prevent losing a whole layer - consider placing gravel or recycled asphalt on hay storage area (outside under tarp)

Storage & Feeding Losses, %Stored Inside & Rack Fed

Hay form Storage Feeding Total

Small sqs. 4 5 9

Large rnds. 4 4 8

Cubes or pellets

2 2 4

Stage of Maturity on Alfalfa Digestibility

Stage % digestibility

Pre-bud 66.8

Bud 65.0

Early bloom 63.1

Mid-bloom 61.3

Full bloom 59.4

Late bloom 57.5

Mature 55.8

Grass, Grass/Alfalfa, Alfalfa

• Choice depends on supply and what horse owners want you to feed.

• Can you feed alfalfa only? – disadvantage if you are riding on city trails.– Increased urine volume & ammonia odor

• Cereal grain hay – harvested when green– More grain – higher feeding value- soft dough

How Should I Sell Hay?

• By the bale?• By the ton?• What is the best

value?

Cost per Bale

Bale wt. lbs $/bale $/ton

40 6.00 300

50 6.00 240

60 6.00 200

70 6.00 171

80 6.00 150

Pricing on RFV

• 125 RFV x 1.1 = $137.50/ton

• 1.3 = $162.50/ton

• Coefficient varies depending on supply & demand

Relative Feed Value

• Hay sellers will find labs that tend to analyze forage a little higher in RFV.

• Ask if the analysis is from a certified lab.

• There may be an economic advantage to move from buying hay on a per bale basis to a RFV basis or use crude protein/ADF or TDN basis.

Hay Packages

• Small squares – 35-100 lbs

• Usually the package of choice

Hay Packages

• Medium squares– 730-1425 lbs

– 3 x 3 x 8 ft.

• May offer potential savings some years

• Precise feeding is more challenging

Switching from Small to Medium Square Bales

• May require a different type of feeding system

• One has to recalibrate flake size– Instead of 2 flakes am &

pm with small bales

– Might only feed one flake of a medium square per horse per day

• This may require a larger stall feeder

Medium & Big Squares

• Require a hefty tractor/ loader and a different method of feeding, rather than feeding 2-4 flakes per horse per day.

• Weigh the flake!

Hay Packages

• Big squares– 3 x 4 x 8 ft.

– 4 x 4 x 8 ft.

– 1300-1800 lbs

Hay Packages

• Round bales• 5 x 6 or 6 x 6• 500-1500 lbs

– Good for feeding groups of horses

– Difficult to feed individual animals without processing

Alternatives

• Sun cured alfalfa pellets

• Beet pulp pellets• Soyhulls• Cottonseed

hulls/sunflower hulls• Millet hay• Straw/corn stalks

Least Cost Energy

Ingredient $/ton DE Mcal/lb $/Mcal

alfalfa 140 1.1 .063

grass 170 0.9 .094

corn 142 1.8 .039

oats 150 1.54 .049

Energy & Requirements 16.4 Mcals/d for 1100 lb Horse

Ingredients Lbs of feed required/d

Cost/day

Alfalfa 16.4/1.1 14.9 1.04

Grass 16.4/.9 18.2 1.55

Corn 16.4/1.8 9.1 .65

Oats 16.4/1.54 10.6 .80

Grain

• May want to consider feeding more grain– Cheaper on cost /unit of energy

• Forage should never be less than – 0.5 lbs/100 lbs of body wt. Or 5 lbs/1000 lb

horse/day– Safer if not more than ½ of total feed eaten

Risks of Alternatives

• Boarder perception

• Constipation

• Colic

• Must supplement more concentrate to maintain weight

How to Buy Hay?

• Purchase on a ton basis

• Develop good relationships with hay growers – pay promptly & don’t bounce checks

Marketing Hay to the Horse Industry?

How to Market Hay to the Horse Industry?

• Developing relationships

• Providing value

• Delivering in a timely manner

• Delivering hay year round– Do you have storage?

All I Need to Know in Life I Learned From My Horse

1. When in doubt, run far, far away.2. You can never have too many treats.3. Passing gas in public is nothing to be ashamed of.4. New shoes are an absolute necessity every 6 weeks.5. Ignore cues. They're just a prompt to do more work.6. Everyone loves a good, wet, slobbery kiss.7. Never run when you can jog. Never jog when you can walk. And never walk when you can stand still.8. Heaven is eating for at least 10 hours a day... and then sleeping the rest.10. Eat plenty of roughage.11. Great legs and a nice rear will get you anywhere. Big, brown eyes help too.12. When you want your way, stomp hard on the nearest foot.13. In times of crisis, take a poop.14. Act dumb when faced with a task you don't want to do.15. Follow the herd. That way, you can't be singled out to take the blame.16. A swift kick in the butt will get anyone's attention.17. Love those who love you back, especially if they have something good to eat.