William Lipovsky
You can buy hay bales and straw from farm feed and supply stores like Tractor Supply, local plant nurseries and garden centers, craft stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby, and home improvement stores like Lowe’s or The Home Depot.
Below, we list where to buy straw and hay bales, including which sizes and types are available.
What We Recommend
The best place to buy hay or straw will depend on your location, what’s in stock, and why you need it.
If you only need a small bale for decor or a minor gardening project, you can usually find what you need through a national retailer like Walmart, Amazon, or a craft store.
Hardware/home improvement stores and farm supply stores are more likely to meet your needs if you need large bales for big gardening projects or other purposes like livestock care.
Even farm supply stores may only have straw available in limited quantities, such as in small, compressed bales. If you need to buy straw in bulk, you might want to check with a local farmer or call ahead to several local farm supply stores to ensure the quantity you need is available.
The List
We’ve listed chain stores where you can commonly find straw and hay bales, beginning with national options.
Note that nearby farmers and locally-owned stores selling landscape, nursery, garden, or farm supplies are also likely to have bales for sale.
1. Walmart
- What it sells: Various sizes of round and rectangular bales, plus loose straw for animal bedding[1][2]
- Where available: Nationwide[3] and online[2]
- Find a store or shop online
2. Amazon
- What it sells: Loose straw and hay bales/rolls in various sizes[4]
- Where available: Online[4]
- Shop online
3. Tractor Supply Co.
- What it sells: Compressed bales, blocks, seeding straw, chopped hay, and other types in various sizes[5]
- Where available: Nationwide[6]
- Find a store
4. Michaels
- What it sells: Decorative, rectangular straw bales ranging from two to thirteen inches wide[7]
- Where available: Nationwide and online[8]
- Find a store or shop online
5. Lowe’s
- What it sells: Rectangular straw bales and loose straw[9]
- Where available: Nationwide[10] and online[11]
- Find a store or shop online
6. The Home Depot
- What it sells: Decorative straw bales; larger bales may be available seasonally around September and October[12]
- Where available: Nationwide[13]
- Find a store
7. True Value Hardware
- What it sells: Grab-and-go packaged bales[14][15]
- Where available: Nationwide[16] and online[15]
- Find a store or shop online
8. Ace Hardware
- What it sells: Various types, including animal bedding, bagged pine straw, and bales[17]
- Where available: Nationwide[18], with limited types available online[19]
- Find a store or shop online
9. Hobby Lobby
- What it sells: Miniature, decorative straw bales[20][21]
- Where available: Nationwide[22] and online[21]
- Find a store or shop online
10. Orscheln Farm & Home
- What it sells: Compressed bales[23] and small animal feed[24]
- Where available: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas,[25] and online[26]
- Find a store or shop online
11. Rural King
- What it sells: Various types, from small animal hay to compressed bales[27]
- Where available: Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia[28]
- Find a store
12. Atwoods Ranch & Home
- What it sells: Square and compressed bales[29][30]
- Where available: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas;[31] some types are also available to ship to your home online[30]
- Find a store or shop online
13. Agri-Supply
- What it sells: Large and small feed and straw bales[32]
- Where available: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia[33]
- Find a store
14. Earl May
- What it sells: Large, rectangular bales[34]
- Where available: Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas[35]
- Find a store
15. Meadows Farms Nurseries & Landscape
- What it sells: Full-size bales (available year-round) and miniature, decorative bales (available in September and October)[36]
- Where available: Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia[37]
- Find a store
16. Star Nursery
- What it sells: Variable sizes and types[38]
- Where available: Nevada, Arizona, and Utah[39]
- Find a store
17. Stanislaus Farm Supply
- What it sells: Feed and straw bales[40]
- Where available: California and Nevada[41]
- Find a store
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can guinea pigs eat the hay that i found at walmart they say it is for decoration
Sounds like you are referring to straw. Guinea pigs eat hay found in the pet food section. Timothy hay is most ideal.
I am looking for a good quality hay for the winter months had a lot of trouble with hay I buy .I have throw so much hay away because it was such a bad quality.
Hi,
Most hay is baled in the fall or late summer, so it will be at its best quality this time of year. Ideally, you’d buy enough this time of year to last through the winter. If you’ve been buying from the stores on this list and the hay has been poor quality, I would recommend contacting a local farmer to find out the best sources that sell locally. You can try searching the Farm Bureau’s website for some contacts near you. It can be hard to buy good hay, it’s normal to have to test out a few sellers before you find good quality hay, so don’t be discouraged.
I need to buy 40 5×5 by 3″ high hay bales for my daughters wedding, I can’t find r
Them anywhere!!!! Any suggestions please- running out of time, wedding is October 8th!!!!!
Sincerely,
Maureen Mahaney
Hi Maureen,
This list is meant to be as exhaustive as possible. If none of these stores are near you (or have the right size hay bales in stock) you’ll need to get in touch with big farmers who will either have the bales you need or be able to point you in the right direction. Contact a local ag group such as a cattlemen’s association to give yourself a head start.