Fertilizer Price vs Hay Price/ Pasture Value

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RiverSide Cattle

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With the fertilizer price increasing it has got me thinking, ad I wanted to bounce my thoughts off you and get your ideas:

Hay Production: Using timothy grass or mixed grass hay fields because they use the most fertilizer:
average yield is 2.5 to 3 tons per acre.
costs: (all per acre then per ton using 2.5 tons per acre yield)

rent: $50per acre / 20 per ton
Fert: for 40-0-6 $700 a ton applied at 150 lbs per acre: $52.5 per acre / $21 per ton
custom haying: (what I charge to cut, rake, bale, and pickup small squares) $150 per acre / $60 per ton
weed control: 15 per acre / 6 per ton

Value of hay: total costs: $267.50 per acre / $107 per ton
Note: this is for small squares stacked within 1 mile of the field: Round bales would be a little less more like 97 a ton depening on how far they need to be moved to be stacked.

My point in all of this is even at $700 a ton fert is still only around 20% of production costs. It isn't increasing much more than the cost of rent, fuel, labor, equipment or even the value of the hay to be sold. My assumption is that it is increasing more for pasture because the vaule of the harvester (cattle) isn't keeping pace. However, around here we feed hay more than pasture so hay is where our biggest cost is. Also I sell more hay than I feed so it is a large portion of my income:

5 years ago fert was $350 a ton and hay production costs were around $60 a ton making cost around 17.5%

So here is my point: I will still be fertilizing as much as I always do and hope the rest of my competition doesn't so supply will be down and the price of hay that I sell will stay high enough to put some beans and rice on my table Because ultimately the price is set by the demand vs the supply.

Note: hay is costing $140 a ton right if you can find it. Last year I sold all I had out of the field for $110 a ton could have gotten more but didn't think so at the time.

Now onto pasture: The opposite is true: Production cost (fertilizer) is increasing and our product (beef) vaule is steady to decreasing: So if you, like I do, feed hay we will watch the price of our production climb and our profit decrease:

What would you do???? Fertilize or not??? (the pastures that is) Or reduce cattle numbers and sell more hay?

RSC
 
RiverSide Cattle":5ohqoa03 said:
What would you do???? Fertilize or not??? (the pastures that is) Or reduce cattle numbers and sell more hay?

RSC

I will fertilize the hay fields, that's a given. The pastures are a little different. We're in the 5th year of trying to get our pastures, (and hay fields for that matter) that were neglected/abused for 20-30 years back to being as productive as they should be. The primary problem with not fertilizing will be the encroachment of weeds. Herbicide costs are as high or pretty close to the cost of fertilizer. The worsst fields will get fertilizer, those that we have a good handle on will be spot sprayed for weeds, those in the middle will get probably both fertilizer and herbicide.
 
Looks good on paper but without timely rains, yeilds can easly be cut in half and your tidy profit is gone.
 
Fertilizer on the hay is a given. They are already talking $200 hay out of the basin for next year. From a strictly profit view, it has made more money to sell hay than to feed cows the last two years here. Short term cattle that will be gone come fall and sell hay? But neglecting the pastures will end up costing in the long term.
 
Hay production and cow production both are dependent on soil fertility. Cutting the fertility of your soil is not a realistic option. Putting your efforts in producing and selling whichever product produces the most income is.
 
Theres' talk all around here about cattlemen selling out completely.

As cattle are sold, the needs for hay will diminish, shutting the door on all the guys thinking that they will make more money in the hay business.

A balance of both will offset.

There's one thing for sure. The price paid for cattle will not increase commensurately with the increase in costs of doing business
 
MikeC":1xc0dhxs said:
Theres' talk all around here about cattlemen selling out completely.

As cattle are sold, the needs for hay will diminish, shutting the door on all the guys thinking that they will make more money in the hay business.

A balance of both will offset.

There's one thing for sure. The price paid for cattle will not increase commensurately with the increase in costs of doing business


With the drought they have been talking aboout selling out for two years and many have sold out. I suspect others will sell out this fall when they try to buy hay.
As for me I have deep cull list this spring and when I start weaning several mommas are going to town. I still am not selling out and I plan to cut hay this year and hope for rain. And this will be the first year in some time that I am not keeping any heifers.
I am trying to find a manaure spreader. I have cleaned up around my hay rings and plan to use that for pasture fertelizer this year.
 
MikeC":bp4e9bdd said:
Theres' talk all around here about cattlemen selling out completely.

As cattle are sold, the needs for hay will diminish, shutting the door on all the guys thinking that they will make more money in the hay business.

I agree. I read somewhere that - on a percentage basis - Georgia liquidated more cattle than any other state due to the drought. This is evident cause in spite of the drought there are a lot of hay producers sitting on piles of hay that they thought they could sell. I'm getting a few phone calls wanting hay but I refer these to commercial hay producers cause as I see it, the hay I got is hay I don't have to put up next year which will help in reducing my total fertilizer and fuel costs and possibly give me a little fishing time.
 
I use about six 1100 pound rolls of grass hay per head over the six months of winter. After my first cut of hay I plan on adjusting the head count to what will carry through next winter for the rolls I will estimate to have. I will fertilize and weed control the hay field and the pasture this year because the pasture took a hard hit with the drought last year. I have some meadow hay fields that need to e spot sprayed for willow brush, etc. and if its dry this spring/summer I hope to complete that. sucks to have to reduce the herd that we have worked to build up.
 

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