Hay prices near you.

Farm-gate grass and alfalfa small squares run about $4–10/bale across the seven states — some of the most affordable horse hay in the country, roughly $180–440/ton. Round bales, the region's staple for cattle, run $30–91 for a big round ($55–190/ton), with bargain prairie and carryover rounds from around $10–15. Big 3×4 alfalfa squares run $50–180. Much of the alfalfa is dairy- or feeder-grade and sells per ton or per load by phone, so the board lists hundreds of named sellers with a tap-to-call number alongside the priced ads.

More than half the priced listings on this board are round bales, because cattle and dairy buyers dominate the Plains. A $55 round that weighs about 1,350 lb works out to roughly $80/ton — a fraction of the ~$250/ton you'll pay for small squares — but each roll needs a tractor to move and enough animals to eat through it before it spoils. Great for cattle; impractical for a two-horse setup. Always ask the bale weight: many round ads quote a size (4×5, 5×6) but not pounds, and that swings the real cost a lot.

Alfalfa is everywhere — Nebraska's Platte Valley, South Dakota's James River Valley, the Red River Valley of North Dakota, and across Iowa and Minnesota, much of it dairy- or feeder-grade. Native and prairie grass come off the Nebraska Sandhills and the Kansas Flint Hills; brome, fescue, orchard, and timothy fill out Missouri and Minnesota; and you'll see oat, cane, and CRP hay for cattle too.

A real example from this board: a $6 grass square at 50 lb works out to about $240/ton, while a $55 round at 1,350 lb is roughly $81/ton. The sticker alone won't tell you the real cost; weigh the bale and compare cost per ton. Round-bale ads often quote a size (4×5, 5×6) but not pounds, so ask.

Always compare delivered cost if you can't haul. Plenty of Plains sellers deliver by the load or the semi, often with a minimum. A cheap field-pickup bale an hour away can lose to a local delivered load once you count the truck, trailer, and your Saturday — or win big if you're taking a full semi load.

Right now, roughly. First cutting is coming off the fields (several listings here are 2026 crop) and field prices are the year's lowest. Many growers take two or three cuttings through summer; prices climb through fall and peak in late winter when supply is scarcest — buy as early as your storage allows.

A lot of Plains hay trades through Facebook groups, Craigslist, and the state hay hotlines and directories (the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and North Dakota hay hotlines, plus K-State, Iowa State, and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture hay lists, are the source for many sellers here). Facebook listings change fast and can't be verified or linked the way classifieds and farm sites can, so most don't appear on the board yet. That's what the price checker above is for — paste any ad and we'll tell you how it stacks up against the verified market. Sell hay? Claim a free listing and get on the board.