Bought fertilizer today....
- Thread starter jltrent
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Stocker Steve
Well-known member
Depends. If the profitability goes up, then yes, "fertilize". But fertilizer should not be yes vs. no, it is how much of what custom blend based on your soil test and your yield target.
In some cases - - you can end up in a loss reduction mode, where you lose money over a wide range of productivities and are just trying to reduce the size of the lose. At these "low" unprofitable selling prices you can lose more with increased inputs. Dairy is famous for this. A hay example would be increasing yield to the point you need a better cutter to handle a dense stand, and also need a better baler plus wrapping equipment because you cannot dry the dense stand.
Production and profitability tend to be more like stair steps rather than a straight line.
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callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
Yes .... when you are using your hay business to subsidize your cow business..........
Otha
Well-known member
I think I'm gonna spend my fertilizer budget on some last years hay. Luckily there is still quite a bit around here, and just plan to graze/stockpile my hay fields. If Fertilizer does manage to drop in the late summer maybe I'll go after a cutting of hay sense we can water. Who knows.
EasTex
Well-known member
How long will hay last, left outside uncovered?
kenny thomas
Well-known member
Lots too many questions before we could answer. We get 50" of rain a year and rarely freezes for over a few hours. It rots faster than 10" of rain where it stays below 0 for a long time.
How good is the hay rolled, how big are the rolls, type of hay, stemy hay rots faster.
What kind of surface is it stacked on? Too many variables.
JRGidaho`
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Sounds like all the more reason to 'Kick the Hay Habit'...
Stocker Steve is exactly right. You generally can't afford to harvest hay if the yield is less that 1-1/2 ton/A.
If you do honest complete cost accounting, it is rare to find anyone producing hay for under $80/ton. The $120-$160/ton range is where most producers are.
Stocker Steve is exactly right. You generally can't afford to harvest hay if the yield is less that 1-1/2 ton/A.
If you do honest complete cost accounting, it is rare to find anyone producing hay for under $80/ton. The $120-$160/ton range is where most producers are.
WFfarm
Well-known member
It will las at the center, but less and less around the outside. A neighbor had some 3 year old round bales along the woods that he was running low and had to use them. About 1/3 of the bale in the center was still good and the cows would eat.
Otha
Well-known member
Here I think 3 year old hay is as old as I would want. If it was stored right. Even then it's going have lost 1/4-1/3 of it's weight. We always feed the oldest first if we can and rotate the new hay in.
I was working on kicking the hay habit but If you have decent calf prices and cheap hay prices like we have seen recently it's a little more profitable to feed a little hay. I really like hauling the nutrients from the hay onto my pasture too. $80/ton hay of decent quality means you can feed a cow for less than $1.50 a day. Feeding for 120 days would be $180 which leaves a fair amount for the rest of the year if calves average $750. I won't be buying any high dollar cows but some sell barn stuff makes money on my spreadsheet at current calf and hay prices.
