Another hay question

[Farmwithjunk]

IH balers never had the huge following that New Holland and Deere have. There's a few good reasons. While SOME IH balers weren't too bad, they never did quite match the durability and performance of NH or Deere balers. Now that "IH" isn't "IH" anymore, CaseNH doesn't have the parts support for those old IH balers that comes anywhere near the support you'll get from NH or Deere. Long story short, you didn't miss out on a great bargain.

I'm seeing a few more balers than normal popping up in classified adds around here. After the miserable hay year we had this past summer, there's a few people "getting out". Watch for balers over the winter. A real bargain on a baler in good condition will show up. Patience....

 

[charlz]

Is your place irrigated? Do you get enough rain that you don't have to irrigate ? That will make a huge impact on your production... also how much time you spend setting tubes or moving pipe. Not to mention additional expense if you have to buy pipe, run a pump, etc.

Most of the horse people around here like the alfalfa/grass mix. Small bales are popular, horse people are mostly horse women If you get enough rain that you don't have to irrigate you may have a hard time getting alfalfa to dry without conditioning it. Pure grass stands will take more in the way of fertilizer inputs etc. I think its a 30% mix of alfalfa in the grass will supply the nitrogen needs.

Seems like there are plenty of people who can't plan. Putting up a hay shed and holding your hay till about February might help you maximize your prices.

Charles