tractor/implements for hay field management

rlee6 · Jul 12, 2004

I am still looking for the right size tractor/implements and I need lots of advice. The land is overgrown now. Once cleared (a dozer will do the clearing), I will have to prepare the land for seeding and maintain the hay field.

Specific questions I have are:

1) What attachments do I need to till the land before seeding?
2) What attachments do I need to maintain the hay field?
3) What size tractor do I need for the attachments?

Land size: 30 acres, eventually. I plan to leave baling to others who already have all the tools. I will just maintain the forage.

Thank you for your help.

SteveM · Jul 12, 2004

I think the answer would be to post this question on y - t - mag dot com, frankly. Haying 30 acres is not justification for buying new equipment, so the most logical move would be a vintage US tractor with used implements. Depending on how slow you want to go, and how handy you are, you could do this pretty cheap. Anyhow, lots of 'old tractor' folks do hay - so you will get dozens of responses there

SPIKER · Jul 12, 2004

Just wondering WHY you want to do hay?

if it is already overgorwn, it will be a major expense to get it back into production for hay which has very litle REAL value. and if you are farming out the actual production of the hay then I would expect it to really only pay for the production of the hay... maybe a better idea would be to look into turning it into a tree crop production which is tons less maintenance and still keeps you in the cauv tax status, (at least in ohio due to fed standards, but you have to sign up and have it managed with help of a forester which is what I did.) now instead of having ot mow hay rake bail my 22 acres I planted trees, (provided free through federal grant) and now only have to maintain them to his planting and harvest plan. litterly less than 2 hrs a week is all I wouild HAVE to put into it but I put more like 5~10 hrs a week to maintain trails and dead fall in the woods ect...

anyhow you may also be able to do soem other things such as fench off 10 acres and run sheep/goats/cattle. ect. they will help keep land managed and will get the land into shape CHEAPLY compaired to hiring out dozers ect.

after you make a choice for that then if you still want to go with HAY making I wish you luck. around here there is litterly hay rotting in fields from 2~3 years back in many many places as it simply is not worth moving it to someplace that needs it. anyhow I'll leave further recogmendations up to the people who are making hay, and are in you're areas dealing with possable sandy soil conditions ect.

mark M /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

frank_f15 · Jul 12, 2004

noticed you are in FLORIDA is there that much need for hay? that would justify that expense and effort?

cowboydoc · Jul 12, 2004

I make alot of hay and I couldn't have said anything better myself than you did Mark.

rlee6 · Jul 13, 2004

Thank you, gentlemen, for the suggestions. I will ask the folks at ytmag.com about used equipment. By the way, I am planning to buy used tractor/implements.

I know nothing about tree farming. Would you kinidly let me know where I can start? I am exploring all kinds of possibilities. But cattle farming is what I have in mind a few years down the road. That is why I am considering hay farming.

Central Florida is kind of horse country. Horse owners tend to feed the best hay to their pet horses. Many tons of alfalfa hay are shipped to central Florida from the north. That's the niche market for the legume hay (not alfalfa) that grows well in Florida. At least, this is the information I have gathered from local ag agents. One cannot become rich from legume hay but farming can be profitable at least.

As Mark said, CHEAPLY seems to be the way for a minifarm to survive. Would you, Mark, kindly explain how sheep and goats get the land into shape? Do they eat the shrubs away? Are they kind of biological dozers?

Many thanks to all for the helpful suggestions.

KiotiJohn · Jul 13, 2004

I don't know at what age you find yourself, but if you feel that you have at least another 15 years of life, plant that extra pasture in pine trees for pulpwood. Many many acres in N. Florida are planted this way, and it's a good cash crop after about 10-14 years. Some of my family do this just west of Jacksonville, with 206 acres planted at this time. At some certain time, a thinning is done, bringing in some money, and then the major harvest a couple of years later. My cousin, in Louisiana bought 19 acres of property next to his current home, sold off the pines which paid for more than 1/2 of the cost of the extra 19 acres. He will sell about 140 acres of pines here in Florida in about 1 1/2 years and expects to get enough to completey pay for the 140 acres purchase price. Of course, to me, this is a young man's racket, but it could benefit heirs if you don't hang around long enough. You can get the trees by grant, I believe, and help for planting them as well. If you want, I can check into it for you and get back with you. PM me if you're interested. John

cowboydoc · Jul 13, 2004

If you want to turn your place into a cattle ranch you need some more land. On 30 acres even in Florida with year round grass you're still only going to be able to run about 15 cow calf pairs or 20-25 feeders. This would be if you turned the pasture into a rotational grazing system. You would then supplement in the winter when grass isn't growing as good with hay.

This would by far be the cheapest route to go. With this route all you would really need would be a sprayer, a good rotary mower, and a 50 hp utility tractor. Buying used you could get by on equipment for around $10k. Buying new probably $25k.

You could make a nice yearly profit on the cattle this way and have little capital outlay in the way of equipment.

SPIKER · Jul 13, 2004

Hi there all:

first place to look is the state / county DNR Dept nat Resources. GO THERE and ask them for info about planting trees and tell them what you are thinking of doing, same for the HAy they are there for the people who are NEW to farming as well as those of us who are into it longer. their time is free to use as needed. you can get all kinds of pamphlets and info on what ever way you wish to go. true FLA has lots of fancy horse farms, but the outlay to HAY 30 ares I don't think you will see any profit/return for a dozen years if ever. as someone mentioned cattle with 30 acres is not extremely viable but wyould keep beef on the table and raise enough to probably break even. as for the goats / sheep, they will keep the grass and shrubs low enough to make maintaining easier. won't totally eliminate them, and I belive a few FLA guys have some sort of saw palmetto or somethign that is dang near impossable to get rid of without spraying and brush hogging constantly... Not sure if you have that or not?

Check into some of the Pulp Wood producers in you're area, they will Plant, Mow and Takecare of the land for free and will pay for the wood when harvest time comes, check with MEAD, INTERNATIONAL PAPER and any others you can think of. International Paper has more managed forests than the US gov. and is the largest Land Owner in the US. I got my Pines and Saplings free as a grant form MEADWESTCO company which is a major grower in Southern Ohio, even though I'm in the north.

Many states have free tree prograsm, best bet is to look for DNR of FLA and search their site, then try local extension office.
Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif