New to the Haying.....Barn sizing help

[mdjohn1427]

This past summer I planted 25 acres of Bermuda Grass for Hay. Due to the late season drought we didn't get a cutting. Now, the Bermuda is dormant. Come April, we will spray for weeds and expect our 1st cutting in late May/early June. Local co-op says I can expect between 50-75 square bales per acre. That's 1250-1875 bales from the first cut. According to Co-op, I can expect to get 3 to 4 cuttings before October (depending on late summer rains). So, I'm getting ready to build a new Hay barn. My thoughts are a 40x60x14 with 20 leans on both sides for additional space for equipment. Please share your thoughts on the size. PS...I have an existing barn with loft space that is 16 x 40 x 10

 

[EddieWalker]

When I first got horses I started out with square bales and the barns that I went to where massive. They had hay stacked up against the walls and either a skid steer or tractor inside there to load the bales and bring them out to my trailer. Both places where very organized and had each cutting stacked separate from each other. First cutting was the cheapest and what they had the most of, the second cutting was what I wanted and that was on the other side of the barn.

I don't know what the dimensions where, but if I was guessing, I'd say something like 60 x 120 with the main door in the middle of the long wall with a big covered porch over it.

Before building, I would draw it out on some graph paper and include a plan on how I would handle loading and moving it around.

Will you be selling the hay? If so, how will you load customers? How will they get to your barn, where will they park and how will the hay get from the barn to their trailer?

 

[CobyRupert]

"Square bales" can be a variety of sizes.
Around here, some farmers have gone to the larger square ones that weight hundreds of pounds, have >2 strings, and are usually moved with a loader; but usually when somebody says "square bales" they are talking about the ones that have 2 strings, are "easily" (arguably) handled by one person (~40-50 lbs) and typically baled into a "kicker" hay wagon (or picked up in the field).

Let's say these are typically 18"W x 14"H x (say) 38" long. That is, the chute of the baler is a fixed width and height, the length of the bale can be adjusted. Double check YOUR bale dimensions as a little error times 1875 bales becomes a bigger number.
So, based on above dimension, that's 9575 cubic inches or 5.54 cubic feet per bale.
Bales can be stacked fairly tight, but I'd add a 5-10% factor for the space between bales, and when they don't fit evenly into the designated space. You might also need to leave room for a hay elevator (conveyor), that runs the length of the mow, etc..

1875 bales x 5.54 cu. ft/bale = 10,390 cubic foot + 5% = 11,000 cu. ft.
Would 2nd, 3rd, cuts be another 11,000 cubic foot, or even more?

40'x60'x14' barn gives you: 33,600 cubic feet to work with.

As Eddie alludes to: Do you need access to get at the 1st cutting, without moving all the 2nd and 3rd?

 

[mdjohn1427]

The hay will be used for onsite livestock (goats and few cattle...300-500 bales). The remaining hay will be sold to local horse owners. I plan to purchase an accumulator/grapple to assist in the handling of the hay. I'd say that the 2nd and 3rd cuts would not produce as much as the 1st. I'd expect the annual bale count to be in the 4000-4500 range. Sounds like 40x60x14 should suffice.

PS...these are small bales 18"W x 14"H x 38" long

 

[SethWilliams]

I square baled one of my fields, approximately 8 acres, and it yielded ~600 square bales. I fertilized it with 300 pounds per acre of triple 19 so I had nice hay. I moved every single one of those bales by hand and then vowed that I will never square bale again. I absolutely would not consider doing square bales unless you buy a grapple/accumulator.

In regards to selling square bales, expect a lot of people to only want 5 or 10 bales and to be picky about what's in it. I hate selling hay to horse people because they are so picky.

Are you pouring concrete in your barn, stacking them on pallets, or something else? Who will work on your equipment when it breaks down? Haying is such a tough business when you consider the amount of money required, weather concerns, and future break downs.

 

[mdjohn1427]

There are three guys around my area that I call every winter for square bale hay. Every December, without question, I call for hay and all of them are out. This year I was fortunate to find a guy 40 miles up the road and bought his last bales. As I stated, I will have an accumulator/grapple to assist in the handling of the hay. As for the quality of the hay. The co-op that seeded the hay in July of last year, was extremely impressed with the detail I used to till, lime, roll, fertilize and seed these 25 acres. If I’m finding it hard to purchase hay, I would think others are having the same issue, or at least they do a better job buying/storing in late summer. As for working on my equipment. I work on all of the stuff I have now, so that will continue. I have a large supplier of wood pallets, so that's what I'll use in the barn.

 

[aczlan]

There are three guys around my area that I call every winter for square bale hay. Every December, without question, I call for hay and all of them are out. This year I was fortunate to find a guy 40 miles up the road and bought his last bales. As I stated, I will have an accumulator/grapple to assist in the handling of the hay. As for the quality of the hay. The co-op that seeded the hay in July of last year, was extremely impressed with the detail I used to till, lime, roll, fertilize and seed these 25 acres. If I’m finding it hard to purchase hay, I would think others are having the same issue, or at least they do a better job buying/storing in late summer. As for working on my equipment. I work on all of the stuff I have now, so that will continue. I have a large supplier of wood pallets, so that's what I'll use in the barn.

You will need a vapor barrier under the concrete slab (such as heavy plastic) or the bottom layer of bales will mold.
You will also need airflow around the stack, or it will mold on the sides.

Aaron Z

 

[mdjohn1427]

More than likely I will use a vapor barrier under about 6” of crush and run.

 

[kthompson]

I stopped with hay this year. Biggest reason was at the point of needing to spend $100,000 or so in barn for square bales. At my age did not make sense.
First decide on accumulator so you know the size. Forget the size of the bales, you must have barn to work with the grapple. You want to be sure you don't have wasted space the grapple can not stack in or life bales from. Begin with the grapple and machine size you will be using. Check the height the loader will clear for stacking and such.

Find a builder who builds hay barns. Go see the barns, talk with the owners. On small square for horses we were selling loads of 100 to over 200 plus bales but we were delivering the vast majority.

 

[mdjohn1427]

I stopped with hay this year. Biggest reason was at the point of needing to spend $100,000 or so in barn for square bales. At my age did not make sense.
First decide on accumulator so you know the size. Forget the size of the bales, you must have barn to work with the grapple. You want to be sure you don't have wasted space the grapple can not stack in or life bales from. Begin with the grapple and machine size you will be using. Check the height the loader will clear for stacking and such.

Find a builder who builds hay barns. Go see the barns, talk with the owners. On small square for horses we were selling loads of 100 to over 200 plus bales but we were delivering the vast majority.

$100,000 for a barn!!! Wow. My first quote for a 40x60x14 with two (20’) leans was $17,900.00.