Hay making help

[40Kchicks]

This year I am going to have about 20 acres cut for me by a custom cutter friend of mine. I’m anxious to see what speed he can manage. The pasture has just had cattle on it for at least 8 years. It’s rough in some spots. When I sprayed it I was able to do 5mph no problems with the 30’ boom.

Before getting the property you may want to talk to some custom hay cutters and see what it would cost to get the job done for you. You could always decide later if buying the equipment is going to be worth it and take the time to cherry pick the best equipment deals.

For those that don’t have the fancy ground tracking radar on their tractors I found that my hand held GPS worked pretty good for tracking speed.

Eric

 

[Phred]

Key issue with speed is how smooth your fields are.
For me that means about 4 mph max with a vermeer gattor disc mower.
More than that and you loose your teeth or hit your head on the cab from all the bouncing around.

This year the rain is non stop. We had 11 inches of rain for may! Thats about 2x the normal. Already have about 2" for june and the average is about 5" for the whole month!

We have the hay. I am running about 2 tons per acer in the first cutting and the county average is about 2.5 tons / acer per year. Almost all fescue / clover mix. Top soil is thin so almost nobody contemplates anything but fescue or bermuda.
Winter kill can be a problem with the bermuda in this area I am told.

The bad news is the quality will be down since its almost all been rained on after cutting or matured too much.
Just can't get 3-4 dry days in a row.

I agree with the idea of cutting in stages to hedge your bets on weather. The forecast called for a week of dry hot weather on my last cutting and it rained d^%& near every day after I fired up the mower for almost 2 weeks!
Glad I did not cut it all....


Richard: Your right about the loss of feed quality as it matures. Most county extension offices have paper on this issue with data that proves the point. The problem is would you rather cut it and have it mold due to bad weather or wait for dry weather in early to mid june and have lost the quality of the hay.

Fred

 

[cowboydoc]

Fred,

Yea I know it's a gamble. Either way making hay is tough!!!

 

[HayDR]

Take the weather out of hay making. McHale Bale Wrappers

 

[cowboydoc]

What does one of those run? Around $10k?

 

[Phred]

Yep, the weather sure does add a challenge.

But when it all works out its a great sense of satisfaction, and you can't bet the smell of fresh new hay bales after you worked your tail off all day long making them. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Fred

 

[Phred]

Mark,

Not only do you have the cost of the machine but what does the wrap run per bale?
I suspect you would have at least a buck in material cost per bale.
Add it all up and its a big chunk of the selling price of hay around here.

Fred

 

[HayDR]

The best way to make money selling hay is to feed it to some cattle and then sell them. Haylage can have higher protein than corn silage with the correct grass mix.

 

[cowboydoc]

The best way to make money selling hay is to feed it to some cattle and then sell them.

I sure don't agree with this unless you already have an existing cow/calf operation. Trying to buy feeders right now and feed them out the estimates are you will lose $100/head.

 

[cowboydoc]

Here's a breakdown on expenses for doing hay.



Alfalfa, Hay
Estimated Expenses per Acre
Your Amount
Farm ($/acre) Price Quantity Unit Description Item
Variable Expenses
_______ $13.80 $0.23 60.00 lb P2O5 Fertilizer
_______ $28.50 $0.15 190.00 lb K2O
_______ $4.76 $2.38 2.00 lb Boron
_______ $5.00 $5.00 1.00 acre Custom Application
_______ $10.72 $16.00 0.67 ton Custom Applied Lime 1
_______ $18.46 $9.23 2.00 pt Furadan 4F Insect Control 2
Weed Control
_______ $3.05 $2.03 1.50 pt Poast Plus 3 Post-Emerge
_______ $2.04 $1.02 2.00 pt Crop Oil
_______ $5.00 $5.00 1.00 acre Custom Application
_______ $1.65 $1.65 1.00 pt 2,4-DB 4
_______ $1.25 $5.00 0.25 acre Custom Application
_______ $4.04 $4.04 1.00 pt Gramoxone Extra Dormant Spray
_______ $0.59 $1.18 0.50 pt Surfactant
_______ $5.00 $5.00 1.00 acre Custom Application
_______ $27.93 $1.33 21.00 lb Fresh Cut Hay Preservative
_______ $5.79 $0.04 140.00 bale Twine
Machinery
_______ $2.76 $2.76 1.00 acre Fuel
_______ $0.41 $0.41 1.00 acre Oil & Filter
_______ $21.72 $21.72 1.00 acre Repairs & Maintenance
_______ $8.12 10.0% $162.47 acre 6 months Interest on Operating Capital
_______ $170.60 Total Variable Expenses
Fixed Expenses
_______ $35.07 $35.07 1.00 acre Prorated over 4 years Establishment Cost
Machinery
_______ $21.05 $21.05 1.00 acre Depreciation
_______ $30.22 $30.22 1.00 acre Interest
_______ $2.13 $2.13 1.00 acre Housing & Insurance
_______ $88.47 Total Fixed Expenses
Labor Expenses
_______ $44.99 $8.00 5.62 hour Labor 5
_______ $304.05 Total Budgeted Expenses
Footnotes:
1 Lime is applied at the rate of 2 tons every 3 years.
2 Other materials may be used at slightly less cost, but do not appear as effective.
3 Poast Plus is included for control of crabgrass, which is a common problem. If johnsongrass is a problem,
Select may be used.
4 Applied once every four years.
5 Labor expense is $8.00 per hour, including wages, Social Security and Medicaid taxes and payroll
administration costs.