Custom Baling Prices

[Stepper]

I have a question. I had someone who wants me to just bale their hay, they will cut and rake it. They will give me 30 % of the hay. They have 1300 acres, 800 of it is open. I am not sure how many acres they are wanting me to bale, but i am sure it is alot. I dont need the hay but i think i have a buyer for my share.

I am in North West Arkansas, the hay is a mixed grass hay, pretty descent grass, has been hay meadows for about 40 years now. I bale 4 x 5 bales nylon string tied. How much a bale should i ask for to sale my share off of the feild and they wanted to know how much a bale i would charge them to keep on baling after i got enough for my share ? How much would be a fair price on that ?

 

[mnmtranching]

Stepper, 30% share for baling is a good deal for you. The easiest part of the haying operation is the baling. At least I think. Maybe take the 30% for the whole works? Hard for me to say what the hay market is in NW AR. Up here we have a decent hay crop and grass hay is $60-80 per ton on the field.

 

[1982vett]

Wow. Could be a lot of bales for a 4x5. Pricing varies so much over distances so I'm not going make a suggestion their. Just be carefull you don't wind up hay rich and cash poor.
Consider the age of your equipment, fuel consumption, twine and how long it takes to roll and tie a bale. A third of the crop sounds reasonable, but then it also depends on what a roll of the hay is worth and can be sold for. Expense of moving the hay is a consideration also.

 

[JRM]

I guess I look at it like this, if they were paying me to just bale what would I charge them, then figure what you would make on 10 bales doing it for money then what can I sell 3 bales for. If selling the 3 bales would be equal or more that what you would make baling for money then it would be a good deal ( assuming the person buys it).
Allot of other things to consider, what if the person backs out of buying the hay, could you sell it to someone else, how long can the hay sit in field before it has to be moved, and would you be the one having to move it. Will you be having to load for the person that buys your hay.
Sounds like allot of hay, I know here hay is not selling very well now, but that could change fast if we do nto get some rain soon.
Good luck

 

[Stepper]

You all have brought up some very good points. After giving it some thought i think i am going to offer to just bale it for $ 8 a bale. That way i wont have to worry about finding a buyer and the possibility of them backing out. They can take it or leave it. I can make a little at $ 8 a bale and it wont be no big deal if they dont want my services. Heck i am not a custom baler anyhow.

Now if i had the cows to feed it to and the land to run some more cows on. It would be an all together different story.

 

[grannysoo]

I can make a little at $ 8 a bale

Unless something breaks......

 

[MikeC]

Roll up 10 bales first and see how long it takes. Calculate how many bales you will be able to bale per hour.

You won't come out unless you can get at least $30-$40 bucks an hour for your tractor/baler & personal time. My minimum would be $50 per hour.

A 5 gallon fuel per hour tractor (80-90 HP) will cost you $20-$25 per hour alone!!!!!!

It's a new day in the custom baling business! The oldtimers will just have to get used to it!!!!!

 

[bandit80]

I guess I look at it like this, if they were paying me to just bale what would I charge them, then figure what you would make on 10 bales doing it for money then what can I sell 3 bales for. If selling the 3 bales would be equal or more that what you would make baling for money then it would be a good deal ( assuming the person buys it).
Allot of other things to consider, what if the person backs out of buying the hay, could you sell it to someone else, how long can the hay sit in field before it has to be moved, and would you be the one having to move it. Will you be having to load for the person that buys your hay.
Sounds like allot of hay, I know here hay is not selling very well now, but that could change fast if we do nto get some rain soon.
Good luck

Some real good advice here. If you want to charge $8/bale, 10 bales would earn you $80. Surely you could sell 3 bales of hay for $26.66/per bale? But, if you have to move the hay, haul, that opens a whole new can of worms.

In my area, everyone has 5 x 6 balers, and I am charging $11 per net wrapped bale this year, and that probably isn't enough. Guy that does a fair amount is charging $12. I can easily bale 10 bales/acre, and up to 25 if the hay is heavy and in good going. More than that if the windrows are double up. Whatever you want to charge, make it worth your while. Farmers don't get paid for their time in a lot of situations. And baling 800 acres will take some time.

Alot of variables to consider if you are getting 30% of the hay. However, if you don't want the hassle of dealing with moving, loading, etc. of your portion of the hay, tell the people that you are baling for that you know someone who would like to buy some of the hay. That way, you can charge what you want per bale, they can sell some of the hay they don't need, and hopefully pay your baling bill!!

 

[Stepper]

I told them today that rather than bale the hay on the shares i would just bale however much they wanted me to bale for $ 8 a bale. They was happy with the deal. He ask me how many bales did i want to bale ? :roll: He said about 800 bales ? :roll: I told him it did not matter to me i would bale as long as he keep cutting and raking. So he said he would just keep cutting and raking then ?

So i guess i will bale until he quits cutting and raking and see how many bales we come up with ! Boy it must be nice to have that much land to run a cattle operation with. One of the owners was not completly happy that i did not want to bale it on the shares. I told him if i had the land to run the extra cattle on i would go ahead and take the hay and buy more cows. But since i dont i suggested that they do that and he said they was wanting to get out of the cattle bussiness not futher into it.

 

[BC]

One of the owners was not completly happy that i did not want to bale it on the shares. I told him if i had the land to run the extra cattle on i would go ahead and take the hay and buy more cows. But since i dont i suggested that they do that and he said they was wanting to get out of the cattle bussiness not futher into it.

Have seen this a bunch lately. People got out of cattle in 2006 when we had drought. Hay was very expensive. Plenty of rain in 2007 and not as many animals to eat all the hay produced. Now people are looking to have someone cut hay on the shares and the custom balers do not want or need anyymore hay.

Some people may have to get back in the cow-calf or stocker business just to keep their land in Ag. production for tax purposes. If the cattle just break even, that might be cheaper than hiring someone to mow the pastures.

 

[bigbull338]

$8 a bale is a far price for just baling hay.if it makes 800 bales thats $6400.an your baling with a 4 by 5 so it should make 1000 bales.

 

[oscar p]

The going rate here for cutting,rakeing,and baleing is $16.00 a bale.

 

[MikeC]

Total costs for baling only is a little over $10.00 per bale this year.

But if you get enough bales you still might make money at charging $8. ;-)

Tongue planted firmly in cheek.......................................

Just remember, every bale you kick out has shortened the life of your equipment by exactly the same number.

 

[Stepper]

Well i did not get the job baling after all. They said $ 8 was to high. I told them that was fine with me that i was not into custom baling anyhow. I know they were tring to jew me down, but it just is not worth it to me. They told me if i could find someone who would buy a couple of hundred bales at $ 15 a bale they would let me go ahead and bale it at $ 8 a bale. I told them if that is what they wanted to do they would need to find a buyer themselfs. I told them it would probably be hard to sell any hay this year with all of the rain we have had and since everyone is cutting so much of it. I suggested to them to buy more cows and feed the hay out but they said they are wanting to get out of the cattle bussiness rather than getting deeper into it.

I might have lost my hay baling job but now i have more time to go fishing. ;-) Which i had rather be doing anyway, it is to dang hot to be fooling with hay now.

 

[1982vett]

Well i did not get the job baling after all. They said $ 8 was to high. I told them that was fine with me that i was not into custom baling anyhow. I know they were tring to jew me down, but it just is not worth it to me. They told me if i could find someone who would buy a couple of hundred bales at $ 15 a bale they would let me go ahead and bale it at $ 8 a bale. I told them if that is what they wanted to do they would need to find a buyer themselfs. I told them it would probably be hard to sell any hay this year with all of the rain we have had and since everyone is cutting so much of it. I suggested to them to buy more cows and feed the hay out but they said they are wanting to get out of the cattle bussiness rather than getting deeper into it.

I might have lost my hay baling job but now i have more time to go fishing. ;-) Which i had rather be doing anyway, it is to dang hot to be fooling with hay now.

:clap: But what are you going to do when they call back and want you to start baling?

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Heck Vette this is Arkansas when they call him back he will tell them he has a fishing trip planed and it will take 10.00 a bale to get him to cancel the fishing trip!!

 

[MrBilly]

4x5 bales, cut, ted, rack and net wrap is $20.50 in Mid-GA this year.

Billy

 

[1982vett]

Heck Vette this is Arkansas when they call him back he will tell them he has a fishing trip planed and it will take 10.00 a bale to get him to cancel the fishing trip!!

Kind of thinking along those lines myself. :nod:

 

[backhoeboogie]

Have seen this a bunch lately. People got out of cattle in 2006 when we had drought. Hay was very expensive. Plenty of rain in 2007 and not as many animals to eat all the hay produced. Now people are looking to have someone cut hay on the shares and the custom balers do not want or need anyymore hay.

Some people may have to get back in the cow-calf or stocker business just to keep their land in Ag. production for tax purposes. If the cattle just break even, that might be cheaper than hiring someone to mow the pastures.

Just let it out to the turf companies. Big money for the sandy loam. They are hauling turf to the golf courses and stadiums all over the U.S. from right here. They can roll out the grass for a ball park in no time. After they pull the grass they rebed, fertilize and irrigate. Your 200 acre pasture looks like a putting green practically all year long and you make big bucks from it.

 

[john250]

Have seen this a bunch lately. People got out of cattle in 2006 when we had drought. Hay was very expensive. Plenty of rain in 2007 and not as many animals to eat all the hay produced. Now people are looking to have someone cut hay on the shares and the custom balers do not want or need anyymore hay.

Some people may have to get back in the cow-calf or stocker business just to keep their land in Ag. production for tax purposes. If the cattle just break even, that might be cheaper than hiring someone to mow the pastures.

Just let it out to the turf companies. Big money for the sandy loam. They are hauling turf to the golf courses and stadiums all over the U.S. from right here. They can roll out the grass for a ball park in no time. After they pull the grass they rebed, fertilize and irrigate. Your 200 acre pasture looks like a putting green practically all year long and you make big bucks from it.

Among the most profitable farms in my county is a sod farm. They cut a LOT of sod.