Central Fl Cracker
Well-known member
What should I figure on cost per month for hay per cow during the fall and winter months? I know most of you cut your own hay but even that cost has labor and machinery.
Fall and winter hay cost
- Thread starter Central Fl Cracker
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Jake
Well-known member
Lovell92":14pwn8cz said:
sounds extremely high, to me at least, couldn't tell ya off the top of my head what our cost is I'd have to do some figurin.
Texan
Well-known member
I wouldn't want many months of that. :lol:Lovell92":2jicr3jr said:
Central Fl Cracker":4drp2die said:
If memory serves, the standard number is 30 pounds/cow/day - but that amount is going to vary according to multiple factors, including weather, condition of the cow going into winter, bred vs open, time of calving, etc. Hay prices are going to vary widely from area to area, and state to state (up here alfalfa is going for about $110/ton) - so call around, get some prices for the type hay you want to feed and do the math.
Susie David
Well-known member
Good post Msscamp....doesn't hurt to know the weights of the animals...30# per day could be making alot of expensive manure for a smaller cow. Our big girls get 30#. The steers get fed according to weight and desired daily gain, of course the equation adjusts monthly for weight gain. We've been averaging 2.5# year 'round.
This year we'll over fill the hay barn..it got pretty tight early last spring when good hay was scarse and we were running low.
Alfalfa is selling for between $85-$125 a ton for first cutting which we are starting to suppliment as the seasonal drought arrived a few weeks early.
That's my two bits worth....Dave Mc
This year we'll over fill the hay barn..it got pretty tight early last spring when good hay was scarse and we were running low.
Alfalfa is selling for between $85-$125 a ton for first cutting which we are starting to suppliment as the seasonal drought arrived a few weeks early.
That's my two bits worth....Dave Mc
Wewild":3b7v04s8 said:
Wow! :shock: No way that would happen here!
Thanks, Dave! Yes, I should have qualified my statement for the type of cattle being fed and their weight. Thanks for the correction.
We are a pairs operation, so my thinking generally runs to that type scenario. Central Fl Cracker
Well-known member
I think are average price here is 4 cents per pound so at 30 lbs per day per cow that would be $ 36 per month which sounds high.
showkid1200
Well-known member
normally we feed a flake a day and theres about 7 flakes in a bale, the coastal i buy is 5.50 a bale and that covers one cow for a week so your looking at around 22.50 a month for one cow.
stocky
Well-known member
Figure 1 large round bale (4x6) per month. Here, most years, that round bale will cost 12-15 dollars. This year, I have paid 15-18 dollars per bale. Each cow will eat 1 bale per month. Figure how many months you feed. Normally, I feed 3 1/2 months per year-----that is 3 1/2 bales at 15 dollars just over 50 dollars per year. I buy all my hay, it would be a higher cost if I were raising my own hay and buying the machinery to put it up or hiring it put up.
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
3MR":83boop43 said:
No kidding. Fertilized coastal is going for $120 a bale here, according to a very good source, and expected to go up. Horse people are paying it. At that price, a man could sell his hay and buy cubes. Send me that $18 hay to feed to the cows and I'll sell mine to the horse folks.
TXBobcat
Well-known member
I'll take some of that $18 hay also!
I figure around 2 1/2 round bales for each mature animal we have. We normally feed hay from around 11-15 to 03-15 each year. The cheapest I've been able to get hay this year is $60 bale (fertilized coastal), but I'm still way short on hay.
So, $60 x 2.5 = $150
$150 / 4 mths = $37.50 head for hay.
I figure around 2 1/2 round bales for each mature animal we have. We normally feed hay from around 11-15 to 03-15 each year. The cheapest I've been able to get hay this year is $60 bale (fertilized coastal), but I'm still way short on hay.
So, $60 x 2.5 = $150
$150 / 4 mths = $37.50 head for hay.
stocky
Well-known member
With the heat and the dry weather, hay prices are going up here, also. There have been alot of people from other states come in and buy hay and ship it to their bad drought areas and hay is now up in the 22-25 dollar range, but it is getting harder to find. What the hay price will be this fall depends on the rainfall. On July 4th, alot of the area got rain, we got nothing. Then, a week later, alot of the area got from 3-9 inches of rain, we got 1/2 inch. We are in the dry spot here, but most of the area is in decent shape so that if we get fall rains, there will be a good fall cutting of hay and that will push the prices back down. I have around 700 bales that I bought early before the prices went up and I sold enough cows so that I shouldnt need more unless I have to start feeding in August. If we get rain, I will buy cows back, but with there being so much drought area, I didnt want to take the chance and get caught in a bind with too many cows and no hay. I hope those of you who have needed rain so badly for so long start getting what you need.
We had a semi and a half of hay left from what we bought last year during the worst of the drought here. After we cut hay and got enough to tide us through a normal winte I was going to sell the stuff we had bought but nobody was interested in it at the price we had paid for it shipped in. Now I'm really glad we didn;t sell it because we've been feding it for the last couple of weeks.
dun
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