🎯 The business: U.S. alfalfa and grass hay, double-pressed into dense bales by export press plants in the West, sold by the container to feed importers, dairies and horse and camel owners in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and to importers in Japan. Saudi Arabia stopped most large-scale green fodder growing in late 2018 to save water, and Japan has long bought U.S. hay for its cattle. You start as an agent between press plants and importers, not as a hay farmer.
At a glance
| Money to start | ≈ $5,600 to $7,600 as an agent; add about $12,000 a container to trade on your own account |
| Time to the first container | About 5 to 8 months, timed to the new crop |
| Hours a week in year one | 15 to 25 |
| Skills that matter most | Reading a forage lab report, freight booking, firm contracts |
| A realistic income line | Ten containers a month at about $600 margin each is $6,000 a month before overhead |
Is this for you?
It suits someone from farm country who knows hay: a grower’s son or daughter, a feed salesperson, a trucker who has hauled for the press plants. You need to know what a protein number and a relative feed value mean, and why a buyer rejects hay that was rained on.
Be clear about the size of the players. The big exporters own their press plants and ship thousands of containers a year, and some Gulf dairies own farms in the U.S. A small exporter earns a place by serving buyers the big ones find too small: a trader in Dubai who wants three containers a month, a stable group that wants premium horse hay, a Japanese importer looking for a second supplier.
Who pays, and what
In the Gulf: feed importers and traders, dairies, and owners of horse stables and camel farms in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In Japan: feed importers and trading companies that supply dairy and beef farms, which buy grass hays such as timothy and Sudan grass as well as alfalfa. U.S. Department of Agriculture figures show alfalfa exports fell for the third year running in 2025, to about 1.75 million tonnes, so expect buyers to bargain hard.
They pay per metric tonne, delivered to their port (for example Jebel Ali or Dammam, or Tokyo or Yokohama), with the grade written as lab numbers: crude protein, relative feed value (RFV), moisture, and limits on mold, dust and weeds. A 40-foot container of double-pressed hay typically holds about 25 tonnes.
What it takes to start
| LLC, EIN, business bank account | $500 |
| A buyer trip to Dubai and Riyadh, or to Tokyo | $3,000 to $5,000 |
| Forage lab tests on samples | $300 |
| Shipping sample bales to buyers | $500 |
| Website, email, spec sheets, a messaging number | $300 |
| Business and cargo insurance, first year | $1,000 |
| All-in | ≈ $5,600 to $7,600 |
That is the agent model. To buy and resell a container yourself, you also carry the cost of the hay and freight until you are paid, about $12,000 a container at this page’s example prices.
Start to finish: the steps
1. Choose the products. Premium alfalfa for dairies, a horse-quality alfalfa or timothy for stables, and one grass hay. Learn the lab numbers each kind of buyer asks for.
2. Partner with two press plants. Export press plants in states such as Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Utah and Nevada buy hay from growers, double-press it and load containers. Ask which ones will sell to a small exporter by the container or pay you a commission per tonne.
3. Set up the business side. Form an LLC, open a bank account that can handle letters of credit, and choose a forwarder that books hay to the Gulf and Japan every week.
4. Meet buyers. Visit feed traders and dairies in the Gulf, or importers in Japan, with lab reports and photos of the bales. Japanese buyers decide slowly and expect a visit before a first order.
5. Send samples with a lab report. Each sample should match a lot that the press plant is holding, so the buyer receives exactly what it tested.
6. Write a tight contract. Price per tonne delivered, the lab limits, the moisture range, the shipment month, and how a quality claim is settled. Do not accept pricing set by a test done at the destination; settle on a U.S. lab report agreed before loading.
7. Get paid safely. A letter of credit, or a deposit with the balance paid against a copy of the bill of lading. Release the original documents only after payment.
8. Load and document it. Photos of every container, the press plant’s weight tickets, the lab report, the phytosanitary certificate and any fumigation or treatment certificate the destination needs.
9. Follow it to the feed bunk. Ask the buyer how the hay looked when the container was opened and how the animals ate it. Fix a problem on the next load, not the one after.
10. Then grow: a monthly program with each buyer through the season, a second press plant for more supply, and contracts for the next crop signed in winter.
Pricing an order
| 25 tonnes of premium alfalfa, pressed and loaded, at $330 a tonne (example) | $8,250 |
| Truck to the port | $500 |
| Ocean freight, 40-foot container to Jebel Ali | $3,000 |
| Phytosanitary certificate, forwarder, insurance, bank fees | $400 |
| Your cost delivered (CFR) | $12,150 |
| Sold at $510 a tonne delivered | $12,750 |
| Your margin | $600 (about 4.7 percent) |
These prices are examples to show the method. Hay prices change with each cutting and each drought, and freight rates swing, so quote from fresh numbers every time and keep offers short. More in Export pricing, and on CFR and CIF in Incoterms.
The math
Trading on your own account, the example container costs $12,150 delivered and sells for $12,750, so you keep $600. Ten containers a month is $6,000. Take off about $800 a month for travel, phone, lab tests and insurance, and about $5,200 is left before tax.
As an agent, a commission of, for example, $10 a tonne earns $250 a container with no money tied up. Twenty containers a month is $5,000. That volume comes from two or three steady buyers, not from many small ones.
The margin is thin, so one rejected container hurts. If a buyer refuses a load for mold and you sell it locally at a $100-a-tonne discount, you lose $2,500, about four containers of margin.
Getting buyers to say yes
Buyers say yes to hay that matches its lab report, arrives on the promised ship, and comes with a person who answers the phone. A first container that tests better than the sample earns the next ten. Offer a small first order, and show photos and weight tickets from the press plant.
Where to find them: feed and agriculture trade shows in Dubai and Riyadh, the U.S. Commercial Service and the USDA agricultural offices in the Gulf and in Tokyo, and the National Hay Association, whose U.S. Forage Export Council brings together press plant owners who export. More in Finding foreign buyers.
Running it week to week
Each week: check what the press plants have in stock and at what quality, update buyers, book space with the forwarder, and watch each container from loading to arrival. In season, call growers about the coming cutting and the weather. Keep a file per container with the contract, lab report, photos, weight tickets, certificates and payment record.
Rules to check
U.S. side: hay is generally EAR99 and needs no export license to the Gulf or Japan. Screen every buyer against the U.S. restricted-party lists and file the EEI in AESDirect for shipments over $2,500 per Schedule B number. See Export controls.
Plant health: each shipment needs a phytosanitary certificate from USDA APHIS. Japan has long required pest measures for some U.S. hay, such as fumigation or an approved heat treatment, and it tightened its phytosanitary certificate rules in 2023. Check the current entry for each country and hay type in APHIS’s export database (PExD) before you quote; your press plant will know it too.
Saudi Arabia: the Saudi Food and Drug Authority requires feed importers, and the plant that produces the feed, to be registered in its national feed registration system. Ask your buyer to confirm your press plant is listed before you ship. UAE: the importer arranges the import approval; ask what it needs from you. Some buyers also ask about genetically engineered alfalfa; know your growers’ seed.
What goes wrong
Hay that was rained on or baled too wet and arrives moldy. A lab result at the destination that does not match yours, followed by a demand for a discount. Freight rates that rise after you fixed a delivered price. A drought or a short crop that pushes U.S. hay prices above what the buyer will pay. Public pressure in Western states over the water used to grow hay for export. The exporters who last test every lot, settle quality on an agreed U.S. lab report, and never ship before payment is secured.
Questions people ask
How do I start a hay export business?
Partner with an export press plant, learn the lab numbers buyers use, and find two or three importers in the Gulf or Japan. Start as an agent taking a per-tonne commission, then trade on your own account once buyers order every month.
Why does Saudi Arabia import so much hay?
To save groundwater, Saudi Arabia stopped most large-scale growing of green fodder such as alfalfa in late 2018, so its dairies and livestock owners import much of their hay.
How much hay fits in a shipping container?
About 25 tonnes of double-pressed hay in a 40-foot container is typical. Single-pressed bales fill the box before they reach the weight, which is why export hay is pressed twice.
Do I need a license to export hay?
No U.S. export license is needed for ordinary hay to these countries. Each shipment needs a USDA phytosanitary certificate, and some destinations require a treatment certificate or a registered supplier. The EEI filing applies above $2,500 per Schedule B number.
How much can you make exporting hay?
At this page’s example numbers, about $600 margin per container trading, or $250 as an agent at $10 a tonne. Ten containers a month trading is about $6,000 before overhead.
Free help
The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service has agricultural offices in the Gulf and Japan and publishes country reports on import rules. The U.S. Commercial Service and your local U.S. Export Assistance Center can find and screen importers. The National Hay Association is the trade group for hay dealers and exporters. Your state’s STEP grant may pay part of a trade mission, and SCORE and your Small Business Development Center help with the plan.
Phytosanitary rules for hay to Japan and feed registration rules in Saudi Arabia change, and hay prices and freight move every month. Points here were checked in November 2026; confirm the APHIS PExD entry for each destination and hay type, and quote from fresh numbers.