I track hay prices across 55 USDA markets every week. Here's what the data says is coming this summer.
Posted by Any_Needleworker_273@reddit | PrepperIntel | View on Reddit | 20 comments
I am NOT the OP of this post, but i thought it relevant, so I'm cross posting this from the homestead thread for folks here in the U.S. regardless of whether or not you have livestock, this is something that directly impacts food costs, especially beef and other animal proteins. There's some interesting discussions in the thread.
driver_dan_party_van@reddit
A post that reads like GPT and doesn't back its prophetic warning with any of the data they say they collected. Market manipulation with llm astroturfing? Is that a thing already?
thereluctantpoet@reddit
You know, I was just about to chime in and say that I've been seeing this opinion on a lot of the subs I'm in and it looks like it could well be true. Then I remembered I automate that in about 3 minutes with a couple of APIs - great reminder to be critical, thank you.
Any_Needleworker_273@reddit (OP)
A lot of the posts on this sub contain a lot of anecdotal information, and there were a lot of observations in the thread, which i highlighted i thought worth reading. Yes, I should have backchecked the post better, and we should always cross reference posted content for veracity, but I do follow a number of agriculture and farming news, and there is a trend in rising feed/hay costs due to weather and a host of factors which all have down stream effects.
livestrong2109@reddit
It might be AI content but it's definitely not completely untrue given what I've been seeing across the industry. We're all getting lied to and gas lit right now on an unprecedented level. That much is for sure true. We'll need a historian to sort all this out one day.
StuartShlongbottom@reddit
That's irrelevant. Look at post history, he's promoting a hay price tracking website https://www.reddit.com/r/AgriTech/s/sKfTULxXjW
livestrong2109@reddit
The internet really is dying isn't it... good eye
thereluctantpoet@reddit
Great points! Sorry I hope my comment didn't come across as singling you out or implying you were making it up/not doing your research! Just agreeing with the other person that in the era of AI and automation it's good to be skeptical. That said, hay price is going up over here in Portugal too. Intense periods of rain followed by increasing droughts has messed with a LOT of agriculture in the last few years. Not looking like a good year for our small farm and vineyard.
Any_Needleworker_273@reddit (OP)
Not at all! Just figured I'd chime in with my reasoning. And the digital landscape is a total s show these days and it IS good to be critical! Hope the weather is better for your home and Vineyard. It's looking like a rough ride in the states this year. We're still in drought in the NE and it's been a pretty cool spring for us.
Bob4Not@reddit
This is a legitimate concern. Good comment.
OtherUserCharges@reddit
God I hate the future.
E0H1PPU5@reddit
Last summer I was buying horse quality round bales of grass hay for $85 a piece, delivered.
Same bales, same supplier right now are up to $120.
It’s crazy and completely unsustainable. This economy is going to see a ton more horses being shipped to Canada and Mexico for slaughter.
No_Possible_7108@reddit
On the bright side, glue will be insanely cheap for a few years
E0H1PPU5@reddit
🤣
Real talk though, the idiot US government banned slaughter of horses in the US. They didn’t do anything to prevent overpopulation though so now instead of a few hours from the auction house to the slaughter house, they are spending days upon days in disgusting cramped trailers being shipped to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada instead.
It’s horrible and with the state of the economy, more and more horses will end up suffering in the slaughterhouse pipeline and it’s very very sad.
Capt_Gremerica@reddit
Holy shit. How was $85 compared to previous years?
E0H1PPU5@reddit
2-3 years ago I was paying $50ish per bale.
Small bales of hay back in like 2010 were going for about $3-$5 a bale. Same hay these days is around $11-$15 per bale.
For the record, large bales in my region are about 800lbs. A small bale is probably 35lbs. An average horse will eat around 20lbs of hay per day and in around bale you tend to lose at least 1/3 to waste.
Capt_Gremerica@reddit
Wow, that's a grim increase YOY
legends99503@reddit
Not trying to disparage the findings of that original poster, but nationally hay bale prices are basically flat year over year, and auction prices don't seem to have jumped in the way they're describing. I'm sure particular markets may have seen swings like this, but I wasn't able to find it.
I'm sure with all the rising costs to inputs like energy the prices will be rising now, but this seems overstated for where the market is currently.
No_Possible_7108@reddit
One of the other posters in this thread said they buy bales for horses and their price per bale has gone up like 50% since last year. Maybe it is a market or region thing? 🧐
notjustsome-all@reddit
I spoke with a farmer today who grows corn on a lot of acres (Wisconsin), he said the wheat crop in the U.S. is really bad this year and that will probably push the price of corn higher.
He also went into the weeds a bit about the corn market, and the take home message seemed to be that the market is usually volatile and likely rigged. This year he was getting a higher price from Jennie-O than from an ethanol refinery, which is unusual.
No_Possible_7108@reddit
Bread and cornbread are about to get way more expensive😢
Especially odd considering like a month ago they were gonna start adding a bunch more ethanol to our gas mixes so I would think they would be trying to get all the thanol they can get their hands on