Haveing Hay problems!

[ShearHeadMS]

i dont know how many of you harvest winter feed for cows, but lately iv been at a crossroads on it. iv been doing 1ton round bails for years, but as of late i havent had as many cattle as i use to. so iv been thinking of getting into hay harvesting full time, for granted i only have maybe 50 or 60 acres of good hay feilds, the rest of the 100 will have to be cultivated for good hay, but what kind of bales would i need to sell? round bales around here are hard to move and dirt cheap ( even with 007). some of my bigger freinds are putting the rye grass and 007 mix in silos and sale it by the ton, pound etc. but what do yall think i need to do?

 

[DT86]

Any time I have hay I don't need I let someone else put it up themselves and pay me for it.

This means no wear on my equipment and it frees up my tractor and myself to do other things.

How much hay would you need to sale to break even on cultivation, equipment costs, fertilizer, seed, twine, diesel and most importantly and possibly the most often overlooked factor... Your labor?? I don't think it can be done on 160 acres.

I could be wrong.

I see so many fools underpricing their hay without thinking about what went into the production of that hay. Sure the guy buying it always thinks he's getting screwed but it haying we're cheap and easy he would be doing it himself.


Just my thoughts.

 

[ShearHeadMS]

well iv got acess to about 900 acres, just as long as i do a split with the owner who has a dairy farm, he has 2k that he uses for hay and the 900 is just a back up field.

 

[Bigfoot62]

First of all, in our part of the world, you have to LIKE doing hay. Financially, there's no way to justify it on its own.

I have a little more than $100,000 invested in tractors and hay equipment. Diesel is nearly $4/gallon. Sisal twine is about $50/bundle. Fertilizer is $450-700/ton. I could go on and on.

I'm guessing, though, you already have everything you need except a smaller baler. Right?
If that's the case, I suggest a 4'x5'. (4' width, 5' diameter) You can put 11 rolls on a 8x20 trailer. Also, one roll will fit in the bed of a full-size pickup.
My JD 457 bale is supposed to weigh 1100#. Anything larger than that, and you'll just be giving away hay. The general public doesn't care how big the bale is, or how much it weighs, they just look at how many $$$ per bale. There will always be the guy down the road that bales the grass in the ditches or abandoned pastures into a 500# roll and sells it for "horse hay" at $25-30. And, he'll have no trouble selling his hay because it's "cheaper."
I actually considered buying a 3x4 baler. I believe I could make a lot more money.

As far as the baler brands, JMHO, but I wouldn't consider anything but a the JD (45x, 46x) or Vermeer (504x).

I hope this doesn't sound too much like a rant, and I probably told you a lot that you already know.

 

[Turbys_1700]

This is an issue that gets all what I call non working farm owners...
You gotta do something with your property so hay is a viable alternative IF you have a market...
That is the issue...
Before the financial collapse of 2008 a lot of farmers around here started selling squares to hobby horse folk...
That market has dried up...
A former colleague of mine sells his rounds to a local cattle farmer and has been very successful...
He already had a round baler with tractors so his investment was already there plus his buyer comes and picks up the hay...
Great situation for him but not typical for the average hay producer...
My advise and it is only advise...
Get your market first...
Don't do you much good to produce a lot of something that you have to give it away...

 

[ShearHeadMS]

you guys hit the nail on the head. most of the cattle people around here are feeder calves raisers. they mostly do a feed mix with hay and other things. square bales are selling alot better than i thought, $5 a bale plus if they buyers find out you got pretty good stuff they will keep comeing, im pretty sure there is a good market for the stuff i got. also im not going into this as an everyday thing, i work off shore so ill have plenty of time to do this on the side. iv already got the tractors and a 5x6 baler (not to sure) with a mower and rake, if yall got anythng else feel free to tell me! oh and bigfoot you told me exactly what i needed to hear :thumbsup:

 

[bigbull338]

you guys hit the nail on the head. most of the cattle people around here are feeder calves raisers. they mostly do a feed mix with hay and other things. square bales are selling alot better than i thought, $5 a bale plus if they buyers find out you got pretty good stuff they will keep comeing, im pretty sure there is a good market for the stuff i got. also im not going into this as an everyday thing, i work off shore so ill have plenty of time to do this on the side. iv already got the tractors and a 5x6 baler (not to sure) with a mower and rake, if yall got anythng else feel free to tell me! oh and bigfoot you told me exactly what i needed to hear :thumbsup:

your like me for years we put up the big 5 by 6 bales till we quit baling our own hay.for the last 10 or 12yrs weve hired custom balers.we changed custom balers this year an went from 5 by 6 to 4 by 6 bales.most every1 is going to 4 by 6 or 4 by 5s because you can load an haul them easy.plus the fact that most people that buy hay have low hp tractors.an cant lift or move the big round bales.