Factors To Consider When Buying Hay
Farming is one of the most crucial economic activities which is carried out I almost every part of the world. Farming may involve crop growing or animal feeding. However, this will always depend on the area where you live where there are some parts that do not support crop farming but could support ranching. Some places do not even support any kind of farming. For those who do animal farming, where they feed cattle for dairy purposes, they would always be aware of how dairy farming is demanding. If you are feeding cows for milk production, you would need different types of farming products ranging from feeds to pesticides. Pesticides are key in ensuring that no pests attack your dairy cattle causing any kind of animal disease.
Feeds are important in ensuring that your cattle produce the highest amount of milk. You can get the feeds through harvest from your farm or you can visit a shop that sells farm products. Some of the things that could be bought and are very essential are the hay. Hay comes in different qualities hence choosing the right quality would be a difficult thing to do. When you are choosing hay maybe for your horse or cattle, it is recommended that you choose the best quality hay ensuring that your animals get the right nutrition. Before you buy your hay, here are some of the factors that you should consider so as to buy the best quality hay.
One of the factors that you should consider is the place where your hay comes from. We all understand that soil quality would be different from one location to another which affects the quality of hay. It is, therefore, crucial for you to determine the region where your hay comes from. There are some regions whereby the hay comes with beetles which are health hazardous to your animals. They can even kill your animals instead of providing nutrition. The other important factor that you should consider when buying hay is the color of the hay. The color does not matter so much since you always find that most hays are beige in color. However, there are some parts that produce green hay.
Green hay is highly recommended since it means that there are high protein concentration and vitamin content hence nutritious for your animals. The other crucial thing that you should know is the stem size of the hay. When you are examining the hay, stem size should be softer and flexible so as to ensure easy consumption and digestion by your cattle or horse. The other thing that you need to consider is the cost of purchasing the hay.
Hay usually has a season where they flood the market and there are times when they are hard to find. This would, therefore, bring variance in their prices and you may be undecided. Here, you need to consider the hay shop that sells the hay at the most affordable prices. In most cases, hay is sold per bale hence you need to find a seller whose prices can meet your budget needs. You should also ensure that you do not by the wrong quantity of hay so that you end up wasting them or buying too little that won’t be enough for your animals.