Raising your own hay, Does it Pay?

[JSCATTLE]

Another reason I bale mine is because a few years ago I bought some hay from a guy to help him out he needed money and I sold my hay for more than what his was selling for . Anyway he said it was good clean hay no weeds etc . I put it out and the next year I had strips of flowers and weeds I have never had before . Right where I unrolled his good clean hay .

[MasseyFerg]

i bale mine cause you can't depend on custom balers to come when you want them, therefore your hay is too mature and not worth a dam. if u have bermuda grass and fertilize it well and cut it at the right time you can make 16-18% protien. So make your own hay and don't buy the $350 ton 20% high energy breeder cubes no more.

[Caustic Burno]

Well I put up 40 rolls of fine rye grass clover hay to today. Best hay I ever baled my butt sat on a tractor seat just long enough to unload the trailer.

[Tim/South]

i bale mine cause you can't depend on custom balers to come when you want them, therefore your hay is too mature and not worth a dam. if u have bermuda grass and fertilize it well and cut it at the right time you can make 16-18% protien. So make your own hay and don't buy the $350 ton 20% high energy breeder cubes no more.

Same here.
For me to make it in cattle/hay I have to be self reliant.
I noticed the hay density setting on a local custom baler. It is barely in the green when they bale for others. It is almost in the yellow when they bale their own. Both bales will be pretty and close to the same height.
His own bales will weigh a lot more than the one he bales for a customer.

[circlew]

Well I put up 40 rolls of fine rye grass clover hay to today. Best hay I ever baled my butt sat on a tractor seat just long enough to unload the trailer.

CB I've already put my name in for 100 rolls at 25 dollars a roll. MY granddad didn't really need the hay this year. All I've got to do is help him rake it and haul it home and unload it. We rolled 37 Saturday. Small field but some places the ryegrass was waist deep.

[Caustic Burno]

Well I put up 40 rolls of fine rye grass clover hay to today. Best hay I ever baled my butt sat on a tractor seat just long enough to unload the trailer.

CB I've already put my name in for 100 rolls at 25 dollars a roll. MY granddad didn't really need the hay this year. All I've got to do is help him rake it and haul it home and unload it. We rolled 37 Saturday. Small field but some places the ryegrass was waist deep.

My cow's will let a bale of coastal rot if they have a choice between rye grass and coastal.
The guy I sold my equipment to I cut him a deal with him on the price and I am alway's first on the list.
The best part is when I drove by and seen my old cutter working and the A/C was still nice and cold in the cab of the truck. He got a new baler for a song and dance as I hadn't run but 300 bales through it when I sold out.

[TexasBred]

My cow's will let a bale of coastal rot if they have a choice between rye grass and coastal.

CB I found out a few years ago my cows would do the same thing given the choice between coastal and maize stalks. The coastal was the last thing they wanted.

[MasseyFerg]

put at leas 100lbs of actual N on the bermuda, doesn't matter ifin it's coastal, alicia, tifton or greenfield. Then cut it at 4-5 weeks or 18" tall. Make yourself some high quality hay and them cows will eat it. If your cows want corn stalks instead of bermuda then your bermuda must have been crap.
Now ryegrass is a different story, if it ain't went to seed it does make better hay than the bermudas

[Suzie Q]

To me being able to feed as much hay as I want, not need during a drought, makes making our own hay priceless.

[SSGenetics]

To me being able to feed as much hay as I want, not need during a drought, makes making our own hay priceless.

Huh

[calfbuyer]

COOL, my thread made cattle.com, which is where i learned about this forum in the first place, thanks cattle.com.

[Suzie Q]

lol SSGenetics am I as clear as mud for being an Aussie? Language barrier?

I feed as much hay as I want during a drought, more than I 'need' to to just keep them alive.

I LOVE being able to feed out 10 round bales if I want to not just eek out 1 bale at a time.

That would not happen if we did not make our own hay.

[Brute 23]

lol SSGenetics am I as clear as mud for being an Aussie? Language barrier?

I feed as much hay as I want during a drought, more than I 'need' to to just keep them alive.

I LOVE being able to feed out 10 round bales if I want to not just eek out 1 bale at a time.

That would not happen if we did not make our own hay.

Why not? You can be crazy and wastefull with bought hay or hay you made youself. Didnt your partents ever tell you there are cattle starving in Africa?

[calfbuyer]

My cow's will let a bale of coastal rot if they have a choice between rye grass and coastal.

CB I found out a few years ago my cows would do the same thing given the choice between coastal and maize stalks. The coastal was the last thing they wanted.

Seems like a lot of people think that just because its coastal its great. Thing about it is that coastal is premium if you take really good care of it. If you dont take care of it, its as sorry as can be

[novatech]

Seems like a lot of people think that just because its coastal its great. Thing about it is that coastal is premium if you take really good care of it. If you dont take care of it, its as sorry as can be

Pretty much like any other grass?