Thinking about getting into haying for my own use and for small $$$

[aczlan]

How much land do I need to get 200 square bales per cutting? Hmmm...

My inlaws have 20 acres (about 10 in hay) and we get 2-500 bales per cutting (first cutting is generally 3-500, second varies greatly).

Aaron Z

 

[pacerron]

Shawn,

We need to find/build us a big ole pole barn to store our hay in sir!

We need to add that to the calculations...

David

Plus a number of other things....
If you run it as a true business for a number of years you may be able to depreciate some of the costs, up to the sales amount each year. On the other side of that could be an increase in cost to the local tax man.

For the transporters, time is money too, so scheduling a fresh made dry pick up from the field as "Motor Seven" suggested in his operation, is doable but tricky. Most of the transporters that survive are literal "wheelers and dealers".
They know more about hay quality than you know about your kids.
They usually really prefer ton or half ton rectangular bales over round ones for obvious load reasons.
Payoff is not going to be the simple 3 year formula you stated.
Sticking with the small 160 bale plan you have might work but you need to have options built into your plan based on supply and demand in all areas of the hay market.
If it was easy, everybody would be doing it..

 

[MotorSeven]

DANG!! I could probably pay the freight for a semi truck to haul some of your hay back to me. Grass hay is selling for $180 a ton around here, and that's if you look long and hard or dicker fiercely. I'd be happier than ever to be buying hay for 5 times what you are selling it for.

$180 a ton? Jeeze I'd be selling off my animals at those prices.

It's funny, new folks to the area always want to know what kind of hay I have. When I explain that due to our pastures flooding once/twice/more a year, we have a mutt mixture. Fescue, Orchard, Clover, Johnson, Timothy and a very few weeds. Most don't think their horse will eat it, so I give them a guarantee and they always come back and say the horses woofed it down. Now I did have a guy bring in new horses from South Dakota and they turned their noses up at it, but later changed there minds and now it's not an issue.

During drought here, the bottoms are the only thing that will produce. We had one a few years ago, and any hillside pasture burned up and withered away. We still got 3 cuttings thanks to our big creek.

I have thought about selling abroad, but the market changes with the weather, so it would be a seasonal challenge to find a market and get it there. If you can get a flatbed that needs a backhaul, then the shipping cost can be pretty low.

 

[MotorSeven]

If it was easy, everybody would be doing it..

Ain't that the truth....it's work plain and simple. I don't mind it as long as I am not pressed for time. I hate rushing anything..............

 

[Iplayfarmer]

$180 a ton? Jeeze I'd be selling off my animals at those prices.

Dairy hay is pushing $300/ton.

 

[sseelhoff]

We paid $180 for a 1200 pound large square (alfalfa)

We are paying $17 per bale for squares of coastal for the horses.

Hay prices here are ridiculous, and getting higher. Drought killed local production, so everything is being trucked in.

We're looking to buy some compact baling equipment.

Mini Hay Balers and Compact Hay Balers | Small Farm Innovators

 

[bigbull338]

if your going to buy your own hay equipment.you need to have a 15 or 20ac hay meadow.an that should justify your equipment purchase.

 

[scoutcub]

if your going to buy your own hay equipment.you need to have a 15 or 20ac hay meadow.an that should justify your equipment purchase.

dam, with all this talk you guyz got me thinkin about it with a 10 acre field doing nothing......:confused3::laughing:

 

[riptides]

dam, with all this talk you guyz got me thinkin about it with a 10 acre field doing nothing......:confused3::laughing:

Well get to it... It is most satisfying work, WHEN others appreciate your efforts.

Even if they don't, it's tractor time.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

We paid $180 for a 1200 pound large square (alfalfa)

We are paying $17 per bale for squares of coastal for the horses.

Hay prices here are ridiculous, and getting higher. Drought killed local production, so everything is being trucked in.

We're looking to buy some compact baling equipment.

Mini Hay Balers and Compact Hay Balers | Small Farm Innovators

I've looked into those tiny little compact balers. There are at least a dozen little one acre pieces within a half mile of my place that I'm sure I could arrange to cut and bale and keep all the hay. I'd have no competition since one else is foolish enough to get into haying on this small of a scale. The prices on those mini balers are rediculous, though.

 

[pacerron]

Well get to it... It is most satisfying work, WHEN others appreciate your efforts.

Even if they don't, it's tractor time.

Yep...
When it's ready, it's ready. Short time for prime horse hay.
Hopefully the weatherman gets it right and you have 4 hot, but usually kinda humid days.
1st day you mow what you think you can get baled and into the barn on the 4th day. You are covered with sweat and seeds. It lays in the sun the rest of the day and begins to turn a little blue on top. You clean out your tractor radiator and get equipment ready for the next day. (You check the weather report, even though once the hay is cut you can't do anything about it )
2nd day it is likely covered with dew, so you go over it with a tedder to pick it up off the ground to get air to it.
3rd day, when it feels right you rake it into windrows so it won't dry too much.
4th day, when the dew is off the windrows you bale it, load it on a wagon,
hall it to the barn, stack it, and make repeat trips till your all done. By then the weatherman has probably changed his tune, the sky is getting black
and you hear thunder in the distance.
If you have made rolls instead the baling part goes much faster, there is no manual loading of a trailer and no manual stacking in the barn, but you still are often racing the weather with a spear on the back and one on the front going as fast as you can to the barn with 2 rolls at a time.
If all goes well you have a lot of good hay that will cure properly and has never been wet.
We can usually complete a cycle in 3 days using a tedder and round baler if the hay isn't too thick. With 90/365 of good sunshine around here 4 days in a row doesn't happen often.
You then hope for another 4 day cycle of good weather very soon to repeat the operation and get another batch in before it gets too old on the stem.
The folks that try to do this in the evenings after working a job all day are not producing the high dollar value hay Dave's been thinking about making.
As "MotorSeven" said, if it gets wet you usually can't give it away or even cover your cost to make it. Time to get some young steers to feed.

 

[MotorSeven]

Wow Pacer, you nailed it.

I can add one more thing.....

....you have a few rows left to bale before dark and possible rain. Then the dreaded "squeeeeeeallllll", you look back in you mirrors(oh yes you need two mirrors or your will need neck surgery after two seasons) and see smoke coming form the baler. Hmmmm, was it a stick that jammed the belt or pick-up teeth...or even worse did something BREAK??

.....nope just a stick......"wheeeew"



PS, FYI, the allergist was amazed that I had two full pages of confirmed allergens....horses(check- got 'em), dogs(check), cats(check), any weed know to man(check), most grasses and hay(check), most foods that I like(check), dust(check), a zillion pollens(check)....etc..etc. Yes - I wear a cannister mask for the first cutting, but the eyes still get pummeled....thank goodness for nose surgery & Nasonex!

 

[riptides]

You guys have missed the best part, you thought you told the kids to get fueled up. They bring home gatorade and not diesel.

Then of course they find somewhere else to be, leaving you a body or two short. Years of experience have honed your skills and timing to be the true one-person operation.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

If I did not know better I'd be beginning to think Ron, Motor, and Rip are trying to scare me outta haying... :laughing:

I love you guys...

David

 

[pacerron]

Wow Pacer, you nailed it.

I can add one more thing.....

....you have a few rows left to bale before dark and possible rain. Then the dreaded "squeeeeeeallllll", you look back in you mirrors(oh yes you need two mirrors or your will need neck surgery after two seasons) and see smoke coming form the baler. Hmmmm, was it a stick that jammed the belt or pick-up teeth...or even worse did something BREAK??

.....nope just a stick......"wheeeew"



PS, FYI, the allergist was amazed that I had two full pages of confirmed allergens....horses(check- got 'em), dogs(check), cats(check), any weed know to man(check), most grasses and hay(check), most foods that I like(check), dust(check), a zillion pollens(check)....etc..etc. Yes - I wear a cannister mask for the first cutting, but the eyes still get pummeled....thank goodness for nose surgery & Nasonex!

I forgot that one. I have some fields surrounded by tree lines and I purposely don't mow or bale a few rows out from the trees to avoid the sticks and old fallen leaves. It is usually very lush but being in the shade a big part of the day it doesn't dry well either. Sometimes I get surprised by a stick further out though and maybe a snake to go with it.
Sounds like your allergies are a mess. I get red, itchy, runny, swollen eyes if I forget to take a Loratadine Antihistamine before cutting.
Your sure right about the mirrors too. I check the full roll indicator that way as well as the string winder arm when wrapping and cutting the string.
Unless the weather turns cold again soon we may have an earlier than "normal" (whatever normal means ) first cutting.

 

[pacerron]

If I did not know better I'd be beginning to think Ron, Motor, and Rip are trying to scare me outta haying... :laughing:

I love you guys...

David

Na...
Anybody who has had the guts to snoop around the world under several fathoms of salt water will see hay making as a piece of cake.
It is wonderful to be able to get off the tractor for a few minute break and look up at a beautiful blue sky with puffy white clouds.
Thanks for your military service to our country.

 

[aczlan]

I forgot that one. I have some fields surrounded by tree lines and I purposely don't mow or bale a few rows out from the trees to avoid the sticks and old fallen leaves. It is usually very lush but being in the shade a big part of the day it doesn't dry well either.

We have a similar situation on one side of our field. I usually try to roll the thinner stuff higher up the hill (away from the shade) and roll the heavier/wetter stuff uphill to there the lighter stuff was.

Aaron Z

 

[Pete Judd]

40 -50 years ago, I recall, the best thing about cutting the hay, was all the rabbits that the mower hit, and the rabbit dinner that followed. Most only lost a leg, so had a 22 on the tractor, so only had 3 legged chicken that night.

 

[foreman Etexas]

I have always had problems in getting someone to come bale my 30ac,meadow.When they do show up,well I will just say it usually gets rained on. Last year did get someone who done a really good job cut one day baled it the next but charged me a 2 bale an acre minimum,so I made 31 and got charged for 60 at $27 a bale. I also have small patches here and there on the place and a long power-line R.O.W,that could never get done. I have also added another 40 acre meadow at my lease place(in-laws),guess around 90acres total now. Well I just bit the bullet and bought new baler,cutter and rake,and just being able to do what and when I wont to do it,is worth the money. The only problem I am having is word gets out and I have alot of folks already wonting me to do there hay but I have to let them down easy,im just doing my own. It will be here Friday,I am going to have to build a bigger barn

 

[MossflowerWoods]

IWell I just bit the bullet and bought new baler,cutter and rake,and just being able to do what and when I wont to do it,is worth the money. The only problem I am having is word gets out and I have alot of folks already wonting me to do there hay but I have to let them down easy,im just doing my own. It will be here Friday,I am going to have to build a bigger barn

My friend,

Pictures... Must see pictures of shiny new hay equipment sir! :thumbsup:

I love my land & I love VA. But before I bought it my goal was to own 15-50 acres... But now that I have almost 51 acres, I catch myself lusting ofter 500 acres, or TX style 1,500 acres or even more! I could move to TX I think... If I was ever to leave VA it would only be for West VA or TX...

Be well my friend,
David