Help with 100 Acres

[Duffster]

I am in located in MD and in the process of purchasing approx 100 acres of farm land. Most of the land is currently soy beans and corn, but I plan on turning this into hay fields. I need to keep the fields no longer than 18" as I will be using the fields to run dogs in. Do you think cutting the fields when they hit 18" is too short for hay production? If so, I will just need to cut it and not worry about the hay.

If I can produce hay from these fields, what is the fastest equipment that can cut and bale without going overkill?

If I am just going to keep the fields cut, what do you suggest? I will have 3 ponds on the property, so they will need to be maintained as well.

This is all new to me, so I am here to learn.

I do know I want AC in the cab and I want some speed as I don't plan on spending forever doing this.

Yes I understand the importance of local dealer support, just looking for a place to start.

I guess this is how I would go about it.

Good (alfalfa)hay is always valuable so get a decent used discbine and windrow the hay when it gets to the max allowable height. Then hire a custom baler to bale it and wrap it on the third day.

 

[River Hill]

Thanks again everyone. Just to clarify a few things. The max I would want the grass to be is around 18".

I am going to start looking at some tractors in the 65 HP range and probably end up with a pull behind Woods or Bush Hog around 10'

I did see some neat offset mowers that would be great for pond banks, but I bet they are $$

You know the one thing I just started thinking about is how much money in seed and how to plant the fields with grass (maybe fescue) Since everything is corn and soy beans, I bet that is going to be a huge expense, but I really have no idea. I was told I would need about 225# per acre so I will need about 22,500# of seed. This does not include fert or the work to plant.

 

[smstonypoint]

You know the one thing I just started thinking about is how much money in seed and how to plant the fields with grass (maybe fescue) Since everything is corn and soy beans, I bet that is going to be a huge expense, but I really have no idea. I was told I would need about 225# per acre so I will need about 22,500# of seed. This does not include fert or the work to plant.

Somebody was pulling your leg on the seeding rate.

Here are prototype enterprise budgets for establishing and maintaining a cool season grass like fescue. The budgets are from NCSU, but should give you a pretty good idea of the costs you can expect.

establishment

http://www.ag-econ.ncsu.edu/extension/budgets/coolseason_grass_86-1.pdf

maintenance

http://www.ag-econ.ncsu.edu/extension/budgets/coolseason_grass_86-2.pdf

Steve

 

[flusher]

Thanks again everyone. Just to clarify a few things. The max I would want the grass to be is around 18".

I am going to start looking at some tractors in the 65 HP range and probably end up with a pull behind Woods or Bush Hog around 10'

I did see some neat offset mowers that would be great for pond banks, but I bet they are $$

You know the one thing I just started thinking about is how much money in seed and how to plant the fields with grass (maybe fescue) Since everything is corn and soy beans, I bet that is going to be a huge expense, but I really have no idea. I was told I would need about 225# per acre so I will need about 22,500# of seed. This does not include fert or the work to plant.

Don't know about fescue, but last season I planted Kanota oats in my 6-acre hayfield at 100 lb/acre. Cost of seed was $0.30/lb. I suppose that would drop significantly if you bought 10,000 lb of oat seed. I planted it with my old restored Minneapolis Moline P3-6 grain drill (10 ft wide, 20 drops, 6" between rows, single disc openers).



With a lot of $$$ invested in seed, you want to use a grain drill rather than broadcast spreaders. Better germination with the drill (~90%) than with the broadcast spreader (~60%).

Here's what my hayfield looked like just before harvesting (we plant in Nov and harvest the following May)

 

[jbooth]

Been following this thread and wanted to be involved but have some questions.

1. How many and what kind of dogs need 100 acres to run on?

2. Can you just use the perimeter for the dogs to run?

100 acres of beans at 25 bushel to the acre and at present $11.50 a bushel will net around $9000.00 for just your landowner 1/3 share. Don't believe you would have trouble with a tenant not taking care of that possible investment/profit possibilty. This year we had beans that made 52 bushels to the acre which would have raised your $9000 to $18000. At this money, you can afford taller dogs that can run in the beans. I have no idea what land sells for in MD., but am guessing its high. Possibly cash flow is not an issue with you.
I also had trail hounds and bird dogs until the last few years. 100 acres would have been good for them to run on but once they were turned loose, the trailhounds picked which 100 acres they were going to run on. Bird dogs were easier to manage.

My wife and I bought 130 acres a few years ago and she recently inherited about 500 more. I have been around farms and farm equipment all my life and would not even consider making the investment in time and money to take care of it myself.

 

[Duffster]

Been following this thread and wanted to be involved but have some questions.

1. How many and what kind of dogs need 100 acres to run on?

2. Can you just use the perimeter for the dogs to run?

100 acres of beans at 25 bushel to the acre and at present $11.50 a bushel will net around $9000.00 for just your landowner 1/3 share. Don't believe you would have trouble with a tenant not taking care of that possible investment/profit possibilty. This year we had beans that made 52 bushels to the acre which would have raised your $9000 to $18000. At this money, you can afford taller dogs that can run in the beans. I have no idea what land sells for in MD., but am guessing its high. Possibly cash flow is not an issue with you.
I also had trail hounds and bird dogs until the last few years. 100 acres would have been good for them to run on but once they were turned loose, the trailhounds picked which 100 acres they were going to run on. Bird dogs were easier to manage.

My wife and I bought 130 acres a few years ago and she recently inherited about 500 more. I have been around farms and farm equipment all my life and would not even consider making the investment in time and money to take care of it myself.

That is some pretty cheap rent.

 

[smstonypoint]

That is some pretty cheap rent.

Cash rents are higher in the Midwest that in most other parts of the country. I believe the OP is located in MD. According to the USDA, the average cash rent in MD in 2010 was $65/acre compared to $176/acre in Iowa. Of course, there is a lot of variation in rental rates within and across counties in a given state.

NASS - Charts and Maps - Farm Values and Cash Rents

Steve

 

[Duffster]

Cash rents are higher in the Midwest that in most other parts of the country. I believe the OP is located in MD. According to the USDA, the average cash rent in MD in 2010 was $65/acre compared to $176/acre in Iowa. Of course, there is a lot of variation in rental rates within and across counties in a given state.

NASS - Charts and Maps - Farm Values and Cash Rents

Steve

Ya it is $300 locally.

 

[jbooth]

That is some pretty cheap rent.

Most of the land my wife and I purchased is now in the CRP progam. The land was bid at $52.00 an acre. Normally CRP follows "cash rent" prices pretty closely. I offered my tillable farm ground to several large farmers in my area at $50 per acres and got no takers. I have heard of a lot higher cash rent in Nebraska and Iowa and I am sure some of the better Kansas farm land goes a lot higher than what my land was valued at. The decision to go to CRP was made when we were at a low period as far as grain prices and had had 2 consecutive years of hail/drought/low grain yields. Typically here in KS. 1/3 goes to land owner and 2/3 goes to the tenant and fertilizer and herbicide costs split the same way.

How do rent costs and tenant/land owner splits go in your area?

Mainly, I just wanted a place where I could go and hang out and do a little hunting.

 

[smstonypoint]

Ya it is $300 locally.

What are the average corn and soybean yields in your neck of the woods?

Steve