Should I Start Haying?

[savaytse66]

I just recently acquired a nice 60+ acre property, 30-40 of which is an established alfalfa/pasture grass crop. Our understanding from the previous owner is that a local boarder came once or twice a year, cut everything down, baled hay, and took it away. In return, he gave her a small per/bale cut. Her per/bale cut looks to be around 5% of what the small square bales go for around here, retail. I can continue the same arrangement, which wouldn't net me a whole lot of $, but it would save me from having to cut down the fields myself, so that's worth something.

On the other hand, there is clearly a demand for the hay, so I am debating whether to start looking for some used equipment. I would need everything, including a tractor. I have a little Kubota BX25, which is fine for cutting the 2 acre lawn, but is clearly not adequate to even consider haying. So a couple questions for you more experienced folk:

1. Is haying the property myself even a consideration? Am I looking at too large a $ investment? I understand the labor investment is significant also, but we didn't buy the property to sit back and relax.
2. We will be slowly adding livestock to the property (rabbits, various poultry, goats, and maybe sheep). Would we be better off just letting the animals graze on the pasture? In other words, might we see a better return on investment if we use the pasture ourselves and let the animals return some if it back to nature?
3. What kind of yields can I even expect? I realize there are a lot of variables: fertilizer, weather, age of crop, etc. But is there an expected number of small square bales per acre that I can use for running some comparisons?

The first summer here, I am inclined to let the local guy do it since it's not something I want to jump into right away. But in the longer term, I have a gut feeling that there are better options out there.

Thoughts?

 

[MH8675309]

You have winter there - consider making hay to get you through the winter months.

 

[teg]

I do NOT know about haying but have a couple of friends that "give" the hay away so they don't have to cut it. One of them finally quit since the "farmer" (not really but I'll be nice) did not want to pay to fertilize the fields or do any improvements. In fact, he left it a mess several times, old hay bails laying around.

I think they were both taken advantage of... and the locals are more than happy to do it. I would look at getting it cut on shares, 60% for them 40% for you - even if you don't need the hay, they can usually sell it for you.

It is expensive if you don't have the equipment and would need to buy everything...

 

[LukeD]

Consider having someone cut and bale it for you. I just charge a flat rate per bale to cut and bale it, and the land owner picks it up themselves. Doing it yourself is good, but is a very expensive investment.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Haying requires a bit of equipment - larger tractor (40hp or so), mower / conditioner, tedder, rake, bailer and hay wagons. You could probably get decent used equipment for $15-$25K, new for quite a bit more. In CT, my father-in-law hays 15 acres and gets 100 bales an acre total with 2 cuts per season. He sells them for $5.50 per bale. If you got 100 bales from 30 acres, at $5.50 a bale, you are looking at $16,500 a year. Consider maintenance, repairs, supplies, taxes and you could pay off the equipment in a few years. You will need a large barn to store the bales in, or find buyers who will meet you in the field. Haying is hot dirty work. I recommend you have your neighbor bale for the first year, and help him out to see if you want to get into the business. You may find you like tending to your animals more, and then have him pay you for allowing him to hay your fields in hay so you have winter feed for your animals.

 

[DT86]

If you don't want to jump in feet first this year try to find a more favorable deal with someone to cut it. 5% is absolutely a one sided deal.

That will give you time to watch and learn for a while. You may end up deciding you'd rather spend the time and money else where.

 

[mattv1]

It is an investment, that is for sure. I'd suggest a complete understanding of costs of equipment, costs of land upkeep, and an examination of your equipment repair skills because breakdowns are awful if there is cut hay in the field and rain coming.....and they're even worse if you don't know how to fix your own equipment (wait for mechanic to show up, and then pay dearly for after-hours service).

I grew up farming (mid-30's now) and I've been haying for my wife's horse boarding operation for the last 4 years. EVERY year i've gotten at least one upgraded piece of equipment. Started with about 12 acres, did almost 80 acres last year.... new stuff to break and fix can be very frustrating.

Biggest expense is the tractor - i already had one before i decided to bale (i've upgraded since...) but since your current tractor won't get the job done that would be a tough pill for me to swallow.

 

[Farmer495]

Of course every land owner is different. Some are quite happy to just have the land cut off for "free" saving them from having to buy a tractor, mower, fuel, etc.

Others seem to think that the guy with tens of thousands of dollars tied up in equipment, their time, fuel and labor should should pay them to rent the land, apply fertilizer etc on poor land.

No way would I buy a bunch of gear to hay for profit. I penciled it out with existing owned equipment and land (instead of feeding livestock, sell hay) and it wasn't really worth the while, especially with all the stories you read with hay buyers....

 

[Ed of all trades]

Haying looks like a lot of work and it is. It also costs a lot to get good equipment and old equipment tends to break when you have hay on the ground and rain coming. The big thing that is needed is a large investment in knowledge. It is an art to getting up good hay. If you could do it in the barn with no rain to deal with it would be easier, but you have to know when to cut and how to dance around that time to miss the rain. You have to know how wet is to wet to bale and what is to dry. You have to know when to rake to help it to dry faster................... You also need to know how to work on equipment. It will break on sat. just as the local shop is closing and you have a lot of hay ready to bale. I am not trying to talk you out of it but you need to know that haying is not a simple thing that any moron can do on the first try.
I assume you have a barn to put the hay in, and a place to put your equipment. If you could find an old farmer to coach you in this you would be ahead.

I hayed for 20 years on my own and helped my dad before that. Ed

 

[newbury]

I just recently acquired a nice 60+ acre property, 30-40 of which is an established alfalfa/pasture grass crop. <snip>
The first summer here, I am inclined to let the local guy do it since it's not something I want to jump into right away. But in the longer term, I have a gut feeling that there are better options out there.

Thoughts?

The "standard" TBN response is usually "go for it, spend the money (it's not OURS), buy more equipment, have fun". Except in haying and backhoes (sometimes).

OP, you don't mention your "life situation". If your a relatively young (50ish), real healthy MAN, retired on a a GREAT pension with nothing else to do all day and great mechanical skills it might make sense IF you are also going to burn the hay in cows or horses.

BUT -
Haying requires TIMING. Especially in areas like Pennsylvania which has been known to get rain in the fall. So if you've a job you can't drop just to go hay before a major storm you can lose a lot of hay.
I only hayed for about 4 years in Vermont, but can still remember the long days, starting before dawn and going to well past astronomical twilight.
If you don't have an alternative to selling hay, like a horse, no profit when everyone has a great hay season.
If you can't wrench on used hay implements you'll need to buy new, and they are expensive.

SO - you've got 60 acres, you NEED a bigger tractor just to drive around on your 60 acres. Start another thread and let us dream about spending your money on OUR dream tractor.

Just try not to discuss how many lids should dance on a grapple

/edit - it also helps GREATLY if about 14 to 18 years ago you had the foresight to breed 4 strong sons to help you