Texas rains, don't this beat all

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I noticed yesterday right up the road from me a guy had round bales for $60 each. I thought, that's crazy, as green as everything is he'll never sell those.

Fertilizer costs about $60 acre. Cut, rake and bale wrap is $29 per bale. Weedkiller costs about $10/acre. I only got about 1.5 large bales per acre. You do the math. Fertilzed Hay cost is directly related to the price of fuel. Anyone who sells it for less than $60 is losing money. I'm not talking about un-fertilized johnson grass or corn stalks.

It's so bad, I'm planning on a hay ride for my kid's birthday but square bales are $7-9 each. It'll be cheaper to build a wooden bench for the kids to sit on while they ride.

Thinking about a weed/wild flower farm....should be cheaper.

 

[BTDT]

Fertilizer costs about $60 acre. Cut, rake and bale wrap is $29 per bale. Weedkiller costs about $10/acre. I only got about 1.5 large bales per acre. You do the math. Fertilzed Hay cost is directly related to the price of fuel. Anyone who sells it for less than $60 is losing money. I'm not talking about un-fertilized johnson grass or corn stalks.

It's so bad, I'm planning on a hay ride for my kid's birthday but square bales are $7-9 each. It'll be cheaper to build a wooden bench for the kids to sit on while they ride.

Thinking about a weed/wild flower farm....should be cheaper.

Maybe I should have worded it different. I was wondering why anyone would want to pay that for a bale of hay when there is so much green grass growing now. Kind of like trying to sell umbrella's in a drought.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

BTDT,
I know that I used your quote to reply to but I really wasn't aiming it back to you specifically. I'm just venting and hope the next bloke will heed my warnings about trying to get rich in the hay business.

The price of beef has been high and ranchers' hay stocks have dwindled. Many have sold off some of the herd. Some will gamble on the price getting cheaper and some will pay the $$$ and not leave it to chance. With all this rain we should get one more good cutting. If it doesn't rain much more this summer, hay will get expensive again. The ranchers have had the luck of getting hay at a cheap price in the past. Now, they are squawking just like we do about the price of gas.

 

[txdon]

I figure TxDon's pool could nearly be full by now with free rain water?

It WOULD have about 6" in it if the liner had been installed.
I'm still waiting for a warm, calm day to put up the wall and liner. I am also trying to finish the fence between storms. Also, I don't work on Holidays, weekends, or days that start with "T".

I blew this deadline, next deadline July 4th.

(Must hurry - satellite internet between storms)

 

[Bird]

Days that start with a "T"? Do you mean Today and Tomorrow?

 

[Bubba Tex]

So much rain here in Kendall County that my leech field is saturated and my tank is seeping up in to the yard...septic guy said it's like that all over the area, the systems weren't designed for this much rain. He could pump it out for me but it most likely will fill right back up. I know I'll regret saying this later, but, I'm ready for summer!

 

[jinman]

I don't have hay grasses just a ton of wildflowers this year. I actually might get to cut the weeds after the flowers seed and the cows eat the grass down.

Don, our wildflowers are spectacular too. It may be the end of June before Kathy lets me mow. The perimeter of our garden is loaded with basket flowers and purple horsemint. Along the road, the nightshade is creating a purple border.

...and our garden actually has weeds because it's too muddy to get in to cultivate. We did get in and pick beans and squash yesterday. Just two rows of Kentucky Wonders yielded 20+ lb of beans and we are picking almost 15 lb of squash every day. Our freezer is going to be full and overflowing in no time.

 

[schmism]

we've been doing good with rain.....

about 3 weeks ago we had a dry spell of about a week that dried out the ground enough for those with good feilds to get in them (thats also when we the septic guy put in the new system)

then we had a week of rain (nearly 3") so those that got there corn in good... then there was a nother week of dry weather when peeps that missed the first round put in... then another round of wet-ish weather and this weekend.

Its fun to see corn that is just being planted vs the stuff that is nearly a foot tall by now.

We had put in the garden last weekend and were hurting for water as we dont have a decent pump/sprinkler hooked up to the well yet... so we were glad to get the .5" of rain this weekend.

We avg .20" every night with sunny 80 deg weather durring the day. Enough water that the garden was wet, but enough sun durring the day that the yard didnt turnin to one huge mud hole

calling for scatered t-showers most of the week, and we finished up the last of the planing last weekend soooooo..... bring it!

 

[txdon]

The road to town, not today.

 

[EddieWalker]

Don,

Interesting picture. The pavement above the water is dry, but there sure is allot of it crossing the road!!!!

Today is nine days in a row of rain for us. I'm at 3/4 of an inch right now, and more is expected.

Eddie