70 replies to this topic

[somedevildawg]

I don't have to discount 2020 hay when I am already taking orders for 2021 hay. I sell out every year at normal prices to the same customers so why discount. If I have hay get rained on it goes straight to cow people and not in my barn . Yes it is discounted but there are no volume discounts to horse people. I just don't have to do it in my area.

I agree...and I wouldn’t change a thing....you put up a good product in a good market, no reason not to capitalize on that. Some are just not as fortunate and as such have to look for alternatives.

[broadriverhay]

@ somedevildawg, I understand. Hay always runs in short supply here.

[haygrl59]

We have a running list of "do not sell to:" of bad customers. One did a charge back with his credit card but because I keep good records/receipts, we were able to get that resolved with the credit card company. Turns out he just wanted two semi loads of hay for free. The others are 'customers' that we could never please and they whined and complained the whole time. Fortunately, I have not had the pleasure of any of these folks calling me and asking to buy hay. I would love to say, 'Hell, no!'.

[RockmartGA]

"Do you sell horse hay?"

 

Nope

 

Keeps me out of jail.... LOL

[Bgriffin856]

Helping out a neighbor or someone who helps us out usually don't hesitate to help them out. Decline custom work and depending on my mood and situation I might give up the little bit we do on hay shares. I cuss it every time the square baler misses or something breaks down

Debating on just setting the price across the board of $100/hr maybe more

[sprout]

Saw a sign in a cafe in Lynchburg, TN....

 

   99.9% of our customers are great! Please try to fit in.

[mstuck21]

I might make a sign for our store that says that.. that’s good

[gosh]

Most years we ship hay through brokers to Eastern Canada and the Eastern US all the way to Florida.  This year the brokers tell me their customers are buying "just in time deliveries", not willing to gamble on what may or may not happen via Covid.  Time will tell  Locally we just had a bumper crop of high quality hay that needs to go through the system before we will see decent pricing.

What ended up happening with you?  Did you have to drop the price or will you sit on it in case winter lasts longer than expected or did things smooth out and back to normal?

[endrow]

I have a friend in southern Pa, who deals in western hay '. He pays less and sells for less right now the markets are just not as strong as last year right now. He says some of the difference  is made up in transportation , It costs nearly as  much to get it here as what the hay is worth out there.

       For the first time in years dairy cattle had good value and many in the east sold out of the dairy business Especially the Amish. Close to 50% of those dairy cattle will go for slaughter if meat prices stay put . Corvid 19 will affect the horse racing industry .  That will affect the flow of hay and straw  to the east .  Cheap transportation is the key to western hay in this area .     

[carcajou]

No changes here yet on premium hay. Increased demand for hay in Eastern Canada, Maine and further south. Prices are meeting resistance but if they want the hay it will rise. We will carryover all our premium hay if prices stay low. Build more sheds i guess

[FAHGreen]

Did I fire the customer?, you decide.

Told one customer that complained about the price , "your horses are a hobby , I produce hay for a living. If you can't afford the hay , take up stamp collecting"

 Another one thought hay should be $4/bale I told him  " bring your check book and I'll sell you the farm, tractor ,discbine,tedder ,rake,baler and wagons and other equip, and I'll buy the hay from you for $4/bale".

 Still have the one customer. Life is too short to put up with the b.s. anymore.

My 2 cents.

Fred

[endrow]

Supply and demand in the hay markets All makes a big difference on what we will and will not do. Last couple years supply been going up a bit and demand fluctuating but down a bit .Not complaining still good here even though not as good as last 2 years . When buyers have more to chose from they get picky. they say Just remember for every hay  farmer that fired a customer there are 2 customers that fired there supplier. 

[Shetland Sheepdog]

Well, now that the Libtards are gaining traction, it might be time to push for a subsidy on hay production!      

[JD3430]

Well, now that the Libtards are gaining traction, it might be time to push for a subsidy on hay production!      

I kinda doubt it. Last libtard administration seemed more intent on hurting farmers by naming 4” deep puddles of water “WOTUS” than any subsidizing of hay farmers. Subsidizing just makes you their slave anyway. Who wants that? 

[Beav]

We will join the soil bank for carbon reduction or some other silly crap, I don't want anything from the government accept to be left alone. My favorite customer way to try to drop price is well farmer down the road sell it for that. My question is "then why are you here?" or here's a quarter call someone who cares

[r82230]

" or here's a quarter call someone who cares

 Beav, 

 

Your dating yourself, a lot of my present customers wouldn't get the quarter thing.  I'd probably really drive them nuts if i put an old rotary dial on the hay shed wall, so they could try to call someone COLLECT. 

 

Larry

[endrow]

 Beav, 

 

Your dating yourself, a lot of my present customers wouldn't get the quarter thing.  I'd probably really drive them nuts if i put an old rotary dial on the hay shed wall, so they could try to call someone COLLECT. 

 

Larry

A men i remember well  the old rotary dial hanging on the wall right inside the door and we were on a party line shared buy 4 house holds.    

[endrow]

 or here's a quarter call someone who cares

  Got news for you , for the first 20+years of my life a pay phone was a dime . 

[mlappin]

I've fired several, another few I wish I could. 

Years ago when we had the big national drought we were blessed with enough rain for some fantastic hay yet was still dry enough I could actually make it on time. Amishman came and got a load, brought a janky ole trailer that come out from under a mobile home. First he wanted to argue about price, then even where to park the trailer so I could load it. Finally got him loaded and told him to never come back. 

Have another guy I sold a boiler to, he tends to listen to his idiot common law son in law instead of me. I went to school with the kid, he wasn’t even close to being the sharpest crayon in the box then and the decades ain't been kind to him. Still an idiot. Anyways the guy that bought the boiler just cant call and say he has a problem and call him back, no… that’d be too easy. He goes into a detailed spiel that actually conveys very few pertinent details. So when the answering machine cuts him off, he just calls right back and starts in again, if twice aint bad enough I’ve had call back five times and out of those five messages where he just picks back up where he was cut off, I’ve yet to have him actually get to the point and give some actual useful information, first few times I listened to all the messages and was still going HUH? After several times of him constipating my answering machine I’ve started to just delete the messages and call him back instead of wasting that much of my life listening to them and trying to figure out what he’s actually talking about. He doesn’t know any of the terminology which also tells me he’s never read the manual. I’ve even had another call between his and he just waits and calls back with more blah blah blah. Takes longer to listen to his message than its ever taken to solve any of the issues that were basically his own ID10T error.

[mlappin]

  Got news for you , for the first 20+years of my life a pay phone was a dime . 

Pay phone?