Big Squares

[Dave]

I may have bought my last round bale. Our drought last summer (well broken lately) caused me to feed about half my winter hay supply. So I bought a load of bent grass out of the Willamette. It came in today. The 3 by 4 by 8 bales weighed a hair under 1,250. It cost me a little under $120 a ton delivered and squeezed off the truck. It only cost me about 3 dollars a ton more than the locally purchased round bales which I had to haul home from the field. The same volume of hay in rounds would have taken me 14 hours of going hard and steady to haul home. This took me 3 hours from the time the truck pulled in until I was back in the house with the hay all stacked and tarped down. As with many things I have to wonder why I didn't do this years ago. When you take the work out of it raising cattle is a lot more fun.

 

[bigbull338]

theres only 1 thing about the small or big square bales.you can control feed with either 1 of them.the thing is the time it takes to feed them.big squares have tobe or need tobe sored in the barn.

 

[Dave]

theres only 1 thing about the small or big square bales.you can control feed with either 1 of them.the thing is the time it takes to feed them.big squares have tobe or need tobe sored in the barn.

Or properly tarped. There is a huge amount of hay in the PNW stored under tarps.

 

[Bigfoot]

If I absolutely knew I could get hay brought in for $120 a ton, there is no way I would ever put up another bite of hay.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I've toyed with the idea of making big squares instead of rounds but my hang up has always been the fact that they can't be left out in the field overnight or stacked outside without the risk of considerable loss in the event of precipitation.

 

[JMJ Farms]

If I absolutely knew I could get hay brought in for $120 a ton, there is no way I would ever put up another bite of hay.

Me and you both Bigfoot.

 

[poorfarmer]

If I absolutely knew I could get hay brought in for $120 a ton, there is no way I would ever put up another bite of hay.

Just out of curiosity what is hay going for a ton in different areas. Hay around here is selling for around $65-$80 a ton. That is not delivered though.

 

[Bigfoot]

A quality round bale will cost $45-55 dollars. Hopefully it'll weigh 1000 pounds. It may not. The problem here is, that bale is not available. Poor quality is not available either. If you want a roll of hay, you gotta cut your own, or find it to cut.

 

[poorfarmer]

Finding hay in my area is easier, but finding hay you trust, is hard everywhere I think. Last year I found a guy on craiglist near me and took a chance and went to check on some hay just to hedge my bets. I was pleasantly surprised. I was able to look at some of his hay fields, have an approximate time on when he cut it, and see that his hay was stacked inside on pallets. And I still only bought one bale at first. I wanted to weigh it and feed it. I did end up buying more and I think this year I may try to increase my order. It is hard to find good affordable hay, and don't get me started on the price of hay equipment.

 

[cattle60]

Curious: What is bent grass? Hay here runs from 25 to 35 a bale. When I sell some to people that have bought before I charge 27.50 for 5x5.

 

[JMJ Farms]

If I absolutely knew I could get hay brought in for $120 a ton, there is no way I would ever put up another bite of hay.

Just out of curiosity what is hay going for a ton in different areas. Hay around here is selling for around $65-$80 a ton. That is not delivered though.

I grow my own. I have good yielding coastal bermuda fields. With good rainfall it costs me $50 to roll a 4x6. Weighs out at about 1200 pounds. Averages 13% protein. That's $5 per bale rent, $15 per bale to get it rolled, and $30 per bale in fertilizer, lime, and insecticide for armyworms and stem maggots. Figured on a 3 bale per acre yield per cutting. 3 cuttings per year. So that equals $83/ton. And I still have to "handle" it. Problem here is people wont pay for quality hay. They want to pay $40 roll. And they will pay just as much for a 4x5 as they will for a 5x6.

 

[Bigfoot]

In all honesty if even poor quality hay was available in my area, I would buy it and supplement.

 

[JMJ Farms]

In all honesty if even poor quality hay was available in my area, I would buy it and supplement.

I have new farm that I rent and bale for my dad. No fertilizer at all. He just wants cheap grass. And then he supplements. Works for him and minimizes risks as far as inputs (ie lack of rain). Not the way I do it but it's hard to argue with what works. I guess if I buy $300/Ac worth of fertilizer and it doesn't rain, then I still have to supplement.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

In all honesty if even poor quality hay was available in my area, I would buy it and supplement.

This what I do with bought hay. Here crappy hay is $25-35 for a 4x5. Corn stalks are $15 a roll. Good quality hay will be $45-60 a roll. 16% protein bulk feed is $230. I can buy a lot of feed to go with cheap hay an still come out ahead.

 

[BC]

In all honesty if even poor quality hay was available in my area, I would buy it and supplement.

This what I do with bought hay. Here crappy hay is $25-35 for a 4x5. Corn stalks are $15 a roll. Good quality hay will be $45-60 a roll. 16% protein bulk feed is $230. I can buy a lot of feed to go with cheap hay an still come out ahead.

There is more to it than just supplementing protien. Most grass hays are deficient in energy even if the protien is adequate. I have a bunch of 5.5% protien hay that was bought for the cost of baling. TDN is 48%. I am having a difficult time getting enough energy and protien in cows with calves nursing.

 

[Kathie in Thorp]

If I absolutely knew I could get hay brought in for $120 a ton, there is no way I would ever put up another bite of hay.

Just out of curiosity what is hay going for a ton in different areas. Hay around here is selling for around $65-$80 a ton. That is not delivered though.

Timothy or alfalfa in our immediate area starts at $200/ton, up to $300 delivered/stacked. Orchard grass usually sells out fast, but similar pricing. Most of that small squares. If you drive down into the Columbia Basin, price drops some, but nothing less than $150/ton.

 

[Dave]

Hay here sells by the ton. Little squares of grass hay to the horse people sells by the bale and boy is that ever a rip off. Fifty pound bales of grass hay are getting from $6 to $9 per bale. I see alfalfa advertised from $120 to $240. Most is in the $180 range. Timothy and orchard grass are similar in cost except small bales which primarily go to feed stores to be sold by the bale. I see lots of triticale and oat hay for $100 to $130. Bent grass and blue grass for $90 to $120. I know a guy who bought a bunch (800 ton) of 2014 timothy for $135. And another guy who got 2014 oat hay for $90.
There are tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of acres of hay grown under irrigation in Eastern Washington and Oregon. the vast majority of this hay is in 3 by 4 by 8 square bales. It is a ways away so it is a matter of freight cost. That is where the square bales come in. They stack solid making for more weight on the load. The freight is the same if there is 20 tons or 30 tons on the truck. My load came out of the Willamette Valley which is closer so the freight wasn't as much. There was 29.875 tons on the load.

 

[1wlimo]

Hay here sells by the ton. Little squares of grass hay to the horse people sells by the bale and boy is that ever a rip off. Fifty pound bales of grass hay are getting from $6 to $9 per bale. I see alfalfa advertised from $120 to $240. Most is in the $180 range. Timothy and orchard grass are similar in cost except small bales which primarily go to feed stores to be sold by the bale. I see lots of triticale and oat hay for $100 to $130. Bent grass and blue grass for $90 to $120. I know a guy who bought a bunch (800 ton) of 2014 timothy for $135. And another guy who got 2014 oat hay for $90.
There are tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of acres of hay grown under irrigation in Eastern Washington and Oregon. the vast majority of this hay is in 3 by 4 by 8 square bales. It is a ways away so it is a matter of freight cost. That is where the square bales come in. They stack solid making for more weight on the load. The freight is the same if there is 20 tons or 30 tons on the truck. My load came out of the Willamette Valley which is closer so the freight wasn't as much. There was 29.875 tons on the load.

Handling of the big squares really is much easier, more on a load as you say, more in a shed, and easy to split up by hand when you need too.

If you have the gear moving two or three at a time works good too.

 

[uplandnut]

Dave I was wondering how the big squares are working out for you now that, I'm assuming you have been feeding some of them out. I was wondering what tactic you are using to feed them? I had thought about them for the ease of stacking alone but the only way I could see feeding them out was either on a flat rack with a second person or taking an old manure spreader and taking the beater bar off so when you engaged it the chain would pull it out the back and then be a one man operation. Just curious what you came up with as the easiest for you?
Hay crops in Wisconsin were a terrific crop this year, I was able find round bales from $25 to $45 a bale for 4x5 to 5x6, this is just standard grass hay. I found 5x6's that weighed 1800lbs for 35 bucks, got enough for this year and should be some for next year. If you want the good dairy hay loaded with alfalfa that you will pay for, but I'm pretty sure you could find that around the area for no more than $150 a ton right out of the field this summer.

 

[Dave]

Dave I was wondering how the big squares are working out for you now that, I'm assuming you have been feeding some of them out. I was wondering what tactic you are using to feed them? I had thought about them for the ease of stacking alone but the only way I could see feeding them out was either on a flat rack with a second person or taking an old manure spreader and taking the beater bar off so when you engaged it the chain would pull it out the back and then be a one man operation. Just curious what you came up with as the easiest for you?
Hay crops in Wisconsin were a terrific crop this year, I was able find round bales from $25 to $45 a bale for 4x5 to 5x6, this is just standard grass hay. I found 5x6's that weighed 1800lbs for 35 bucks, got enough for this year and should be some for next year. If you want the good dairy hay loaded with alfalfa that you will pay for, but I'm pretty sure you could find that around the area for no more than $150 a ton right out of the field this summer.

I haven't fed any yet. I have about 150 round bales to feed first. I can't feed outside on the ground. The weather here makes for a constant state of deep mud all winter. I have 84 feet of straight feed panels under a shed roof with a concrete floor. They are broke into two different sections. Three 12 foot panels in one section and four panels in the other. The plan is to set a bale on edge in the middle of the longer section and fork hay to the left and right. Then put a pallet on the bale forks, put it along side the end of the bale, tip flakes on to the pallet, and then take them over to the short section.