Need Advice on Growing Hay in Central PA

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I have a dream as I near retirement to obtain 30 ac. of land with 10 ac. being rolling meadows or pasture here in central Pennsylvania. My thought is to grow and harvest hay (or other field crops) on the 10 ac. and sell it to nearby beef/horse farms. My challenge is I know nothing about raising Hay. I mean nothing. That's why I need your advice and counsel for Dummies. I would do this mostly because I believe I would enjoy it. Selling the hay would be to help defray costs for my dream. I see this dream with something like a JD 3033R with attachments. I would possibly pay or hire someone to harvest the hay because of the capital outlay required.

Also, how well do you think a 3033R JD would serve in meeting the 10 ac. needs. How much additional acreage do you think would be practical with such a tractor for haying purposes.

What other equipment in addition to the tractor would you recommend ? Any insight as to what would sell best in Central PA, i.e., Alfalfa, Timothy, etc.

Please give me you seasoned advice on my dream.

 

[strum456]

With haying, timing is EVERYTHING!

Being retired, you quite possibly would have time to cut your hay at the correct stage of growth and get it baled and inside in between rain storms. BUT, if you have to rely on someone else to do this for you, things become complicated. When the nice weather finally comes, everyone will need to bale at the same time. This makes it difficult to get the hay in in the best possible condition unless you have your own equipment.

Help is another factor. Do you have anyone that would help you with the labor aspect?

As for the type of hay...that will have to wait until you purchase some land. You would want to do some research on the types of hay that would do the best in your specific soil drainage situation.

 

[2458n]

Square bales equals horse hay. Requires the most help stacking on the wagons,then if you can not sell it out of the field you store it in a barn. Unstacking and restacking it in the barn. When selling it you again have to take it out of the barn. Round bales are usually for cows around here. The bales are dropped in the field and gathered up using a front end loader on the tractor. These bales can be stacked outside if a covered area is not available. Everyone in the area is doing this at the same time to beat the next rain. Good help can make or break your operation- no matter what you do-sometimes help is not around when you need them. I have told a friend many times he would be better off to buy his hay out of the field. At Tractor supply someone had placed a ad for 5 dollar a bale 1st cutting and 6 dollar a bale for 2nd cutting. What you do not know is if they sold any.

 

[bigcut]

Thanks Strum....you've given me food for thought which is what I wanted.
John

 

[bigcut]

Sounds rather labor intensive with square bales, Most of the acreage here tends to be the large round bales...Don't know if that's because what their customers want or, easier to handle.
Thanks for the input.
John

 

[Fossil Farm]

There is specialized equipment to pick up, stack and drop a load of square hay bales in one operation into a pole barn. But I doubt if it would be worth it for just 10 acres of hay. You would need to purchase the equipment and build the drive through pole barn for storage. Relying on someone else to harvest your hay is not a good idea. You need to put pencil to paper to figure out cost outlays for equipment, seed, fertilizer, etc. Depends if you are going to grow clover hay or grass hay also. If there are hay auctions in your area, go to a few to see what is selling and to who. Then you need reliable buyers who pay cash. We had too many checks that bounced. Find out what farm ground cash rents for in your area. Might be just as well off cash renting than purchasing all the equipment. Good luck with your decision.

 

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Fossil Farm,
You've given me some excellent things to explore...Thanks for the valuable advice.
John

 

[farmer2009]

Equipment capital outlay can be large or fairly small. Check to used equipment market. Around here you could get the equipment to square bale for about 6k. Now that's older used small stuff. A 24t John Deere baler, a new holland 451 sickle bar mower and 256 side delivery bar rake. Also picking up a used Tedder. All of which should run on a tractor like you want. Also you could spend big money and go buy everything new. Its what ever you want.
Now labor can be different. Good friends or family can be a very pleasing experience. It's hard work but the time with each other may make it easier. Or you might be able to hire some local high school kids.

 

[flusher]

I have a dream as I near retirement to obtain 30 ac. of land with 10 ac. being rolling meadows or pasture here in central Pennsylvania. My thought is to grow and harvest hay (or other field crops) on the 10 ac. and sell it to nearby beef/horse farms. My challenge is I know nothing about raising Hay. I mean nothing. That's why I need your advice and counsel for Dummies. I would do this mostly because I believe I would enjoy it. Selling the hay would be to help defray costs for my dream. I see this dream with something like a JD 3033R with attachments. I would possibly pay or hire someone to harvest the hay because of the capital outlay required.

Also, how well do you think a 3033R JD would serve in meeting the 10 ac. needs. How much additional acreage do you think would be practical with such a tractor for haying purposes.

What other equipment in addition to the tractor would you recommend ? Any insight as to what would sell best in Central PA, i.e., Alfalfa, Timothy, etc.

Please give me you seasoned advice on my dream.

I did the same thing--retired, bought 10 acres in Northern CA, 6 acres is hayfield.
I bought a new Mahindra 5525 (55 hp engine, 45 hp pto, weighs about 7000 lb with FEL and loaded rear tires) in 2008 to handle all the haying tasks (discing, fertilizing, planting, mowing, raking, baling, bale handling/stacking). Your tractor is only 33 hp (engine) and around 3500 lb weight which is pretty small for haying--but people have used small CUTs like that 3033R for haying.

All my haying equipment is used stuff bought from neighbors, dealers, at auction.

The soil is thin around here (4-6" topsoil) so for grass and grain hay all that's needed is to disc the soil before planting. I have three discs--a 7-ft wide Towner offset disc, a 6-ft wide tandem disk and an 8-ft wide tandem disc with transport wheels. The Towner was given to me by a neighbor, the 6-ft disc cost $150, the wheel disc $600

I use an ancient restored Minneapolis Moline P3-6 grain drill (10 ft wide, 20 rows, single disc openers) for fertilizing and planting (oats, forage mix, grasses). Cost: $275 for two drills--used parts from both to make one good drill.

I mow with a 7-ft wide Massey Ferguson 31 sicklebar mower. Cost at auction: $550. I refurbished the mower--about $200 in new parts.

The rake is a John Deere 350 5-bar side delivery rake ($800 from a local guy who restores old stuff like that).

The baler is an old Massey Ferguson 124 (two twine, small bales). Cost: $2000. Bought it from a neighbor right out of the field--he baled 30 acres with it the previous day.

This will give you an idea of the type of equipment you will need and typical costs.

Good luck.

 

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Flusher,
You are one smart farmer...and what an eye for deal making. I sure wish I had your talent for machinery and bargaining. If you're half as good a farmer as you are a bargainer, I'm sure you have an outstanding farm.
Thanks for the education.
John - Keep the advice coming please...you have a lot of knowledge.