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Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot | 3 tie bales can weigh anywhere from 80 ish pounds on up to around 160. Depends on bale size and how they bale, what market they are shooting for, etc. Many of my customers specialize in the feedstore market, mostly in California and the Oregon coast. A light 3 tie bale is what they want, the feedstores want them light, being 100-110lbs. Over 115 lbs and they will complain for sure. We often have a problem keeping the bales light, as it is tough to make decent bales with most hay when you get down around 100 lbs. Also, some markets (actually all of them except a feed store) will complain about the bales being to light. Most all hay from this area goes on a 300-700 mile ride on a truck before it gets to where it needs to be, so the buyers want to make sure they can get a truck to weight.
2 tie bales are almost unheard of in this area. Big bales (all 3x4's) have taken over a good share of the market, but those guys are stuck selling almost entirely to the dairy market. The three tie bale is a good compromise, as they can be used by feed stores where it is handled much by hand, dairy's don't mind heavy three tie bales, and the export market prefers them. The bale size on three tie bales is actually 15x22x46, with a few old school 16x23x46, and a few double chambered 14x22x46. We do handle three tie's entirely by machine here. Balewagon picks them up and stacks the bales into blocks, and a 'squeeze' handles them from there. I'll try and attach a picture of my squeeze. The only time they really get handled by hand is if they are fed by hand (many beef cattle ranches) or if there is a problem and something falls apart. Even most of the beef cow guys will load the hay with a squeeze and just feed off by hand the bales never need lifted. Hay booms used to be used before squeezes and still are in few areas, those things are another art to operate. The amount of machinery needed to handle effectively one size bale (three tie or 3x4) over another makes it cost prohibitive for most guys here to do both. Almost everyone does either three tie or big bale, but not both. Most of the growers here are under 2000 acres as well.
As far as the export market goes, they need the hay dry so it doesn't cause problems in transit. They press it into even smaller bales and then lock it up inside a 'can' or shipping container. The hay must be fully cured out or it can mold inside the containers. The exporters don't like large squares as they have to first slice them down to fit the presses, which are sized for three tie bales. The cutting leaves waste and is another step, which just adds to the cost. Most of the presses are adapting to handle 3x4's, but they prefer not to.
They reason they ship hay over there, is mostly they don't have the room to grow it. Remember, the Asians are some very, very intelligent people. They'd grow it if it was cost effective to do so. They just don't have the land resources to do so. The buyers there are just like here, everything from large commercial dairies, to guys with two Kobe beef cows in the backyard. The price on the other side is dependent upon many things, the cost of hay here, the cost of shipping (which is mostly a 'backhaul' so to speak, those cans are filled with consumer goods coming this way), currency exchange rates, etc. I couldn't quote you a number on what hay is worth/ton there, but there are a whole host of companies in the export business. The amount of hay shipped is staggering as well, so I'm sure the price is competitive whatever it is.
Feel free to ask any other questions, I have no idea what growing alfalfa with that kind of rainfall must entail. We don't even irrigate that much, actually our rainfall and irrigation total is quite a bit less.
A few pictures of hay trucks ready to roll out, first load headed to San Diego, CA (as far away in CA as you can get from here, on the OR border) and the second load headed to Ellensburg, WA.
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Questions for Western hay growers
