Penciling out hay purchases can be difficult, but it becomes impossible when the hay you pay for doesn’t exist.
With hay in short supply and expensive, some dishonest people are taking advantage of that situation and of ranchers in dire need of feed.
There are some outright scammers who want money up front, but do not actually have hay to sell. And some people misrepresent the hay they have for sale—saying it’s better quality than what it actually is, wanting more money than what it is worth, said Kyle Hamilton, TK Freight, Upton, Wyoming.
Through his business, Hamilton hauls a lot of hay and sometimes brokeres hay for his customers. He recommends taking time to hop in your car and go look at the hay that’s being advertised. “Meet the people,” advised. He also said that sometimes an ad is fairly obviously a scam. “If they advertise a certain type of forage that doesn’t typically grow in that area, or a mix of grasses that don’t grow in the same season, that’s a clue,” Kyle said.
You might call someone you know in that area to see if people actually grow that type of grass there. Check it out. Go look at it, or have a plan B. “Last year when hay was hard to find, we were hauling hay from June through February of this year, some of it 400 to 600 miles away. People were desperate for hay. This put us out of our normal circle and the people we usually work with. So the risk was obviously higher; you are dealing with people you don’t…
