Hay bailing for profit??

[riptides]

Hayin' for profit is more or less a suplimental income for farmers who already own the equipment for their own use. Seems to me farming in general is a bunch of "part-time jobs" linked by their need to have several other "part-time jobs" to add up to a real income. I tried grain farming. I made 3 months income in a year. (relative to a "real job" income) I added some beef cattle. That added (in good years) another months income in 12 months time. Tobacco crop did me well for a few years. Maybe 3 months worth of income over 12 months. Hay business added a few weeks to the income total. In the end, I'd work all day at my job, come home and farm weekend and nights. After 35 years, I had about what I'd expect from my job and a fairly valuable piece of ground that was paid off in 25 years. That's what farming is all about. Struggle your entire life to make payments, stay in debt up to your ears, and die someday with an estate value far beyond your wildest dreams so the rest of the family can fight over it.

And my wife says I'm cynical.

One of the MOST enlightening and thought provoking posts I have ever seen on TBN.

-Mike Z.

 

[N80]

It seems odd that there is a shortage in Georgia. Here in middle SC the farmers I know have more hay than they know what to do with. However, it is primarily fescue for cows. turkey manure seems to be the fertilizer of choice. I don't think there is a square bale horse market for fescue.

There is a fellow nearby whose daughter is friends with my daughter and he is in the full time hay selling business. Has his own fleet of 18 wheelers, big tractors, Krone offset mowers, and a bale wrapper of some sort. And he has a real nice house and a swimming pool so it must be working out. I think he grows a variety of things, including alfalfa according to his 13 year old daughter.

It seems to me that haylage would be such a benefit to a small time hay farmer since it removes, to some extent, the gambling on the weather since you can cut and bale pretty close together. But, that adds the expense of a bale wrapper and I don't know if there is a bale wrapper for square bales.

Having helped my B-I-L with his hay operation from time to time, I wouldn't want to do it for a living.

 

[scott_vt]

To grow premium quality hay takes more than just a little equipment. It takes know-how, LUCK, proper equipment, more luck, a storage building, along with a healthy dose of luck, and a sizable cash investment. And that's no guarantee.

Hey Bill,
Im not gonna offer any advice here because I have never put up my own hay, I have helped a couple of farmers with theres' but thats it. I will say that the word luck is pretty fair, especially in the northeast ! You need 3 good days after the field is dried out, and thats not always easy to find when you need it ! I do agree with Bill on the mower conditioner, using a sicklemower will take an extra day, and that may be the day that it starts to rain !

 

[Robert_in_NY]

One problem for a small guy trying to get into haylage is that you need a market for it. Trying to start up new you have to do a lot of research in the area you live to see what type of market there is. Up here haylage is not easy to sell as the small dairy farmers all gave up around here. Now you have to drive 20 miles to find them and most of them have their own equipment and a day job also to make ends meet so they are not looking to buy anything extra. There are a couple old dairy farmers who cut back on their cows and sell their extra haylage but you are not going to make much in that market in this area of WNY. But each area is different so you have to check the papers and talk to people to see what they want and how much they want to spend on it.

Small squares is a good market as most horse farmers do not want to handle round or large squares. It just requires a lot of labor, knowledge, time, storage and good equipment to put up 200 acres of quality hay.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Nice seeing a number of expierenced people offering their thoughts. Was somewhat surprised to see comments about the use of tedders. When I was haying, I didn't know anyone else using them. I actually had two with one being an unusual side delivery rake that also worked like a tedder. The 4 basket tedder got is share of use on 1st cutting fields.

On clover and alfalfa, conventional side delivery rakes were useless during the spring 1st cutting.

How to make a million $ in farming, start with two. Very true for many.

 

[Bird]

Was somewhat surprised to see comments about the use of tedders. When I was haying, I didn't know anyone else using them

I guess it depends on what part of the country, local climate, type of hay, etc., but I only knew of one person who owned a tedder, and even though he was full time in the hay business, I never knew of him to use it, and he told me it was very seldom that he had a use for it.

 

[N80]

It seems like in an area where rain can happen _any_ spring or summer afternoon that you'd live or die by the tedder. My farmer friend is never happy about having to do it but he's glad that he can when he needs to.

 

[Bird]

That sounds logical to me, George.

 

[Soundguy]

Fl is having a 'coastal' shortage right now.. and i here it is in part because of GA. I hear they had some kind of worm problem? perhaps army worms?

Soundguy

It seems odd that there is a shortage in Georgia. Here in middle SC the farmers I know have more hay than they know what to .

 

[tallyho8]

It seems like the main thing causing a hay shortage of square bales in our area is because Katrina destroyed all the hay barns and they have not been rebuilt yet. So eveyone is making round bales now until they get room to store their square bales again.