Hay Field.....

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CCCowman

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I have a 40 acre hay field that I over seeded last fall with rescue, rye and clover. This spring I have put 90 tons of lime and 6 tons of fertilizer (coated with grayzon) on it. Man it looked good.... really good.

My neighbor has a 20 acre field he's trying to sell. Sent a guy over last week (-I was out of town) to bush hog it for a potential buyer.

Yep....... he cut the 20 acres PLUS my hay field!!!! What would be fair compensation?
 
There is no excuse for such incompetence.

I fertilized some of my pasture this spring. Grass is excellent so I can imagine how nice your grass must have been. I would calculate how many rolls of hay it would have produced and charge premium per roll based on similar hay in your area.
 
Calculate, did he scalp it? I would prefer to punch a guy in the nose that couldn't tell the difference between 60 acres and 20, but that puts you on the other side of the law. It might be worth it for the satisfaction, because if he's that dumb he probably cant pay you. But then again, he may shoot your ass, and instead of 150 misdemeanor assault fine , you may be be paying hospitalization fees and spending time recuperating or not
 
I'd want the cost of fertilizer plus the average cost of the hay per roll.

If your like myself the first cutting of hay supplies about 60% of our winter feed.
 
Bright Raven said:
There is no excuse for such incompetence.

I fertilized some of my pasture this spring. Grass is excellent so I can imagine how nice your grass must have been. I would calculate how many rolls of hay it would have produced and charge premium per roll based on similar hay in your area.
Made me sick when I saw it. Best it has ever been. I don't know know where to start with this.
 
Boy that sucks. I'd say figure how many rolls you DIDNT get and also the fertilizer cost. Bc even though you have some fertilizer left, some of what was already there was utilized. Kinda double dipping in a way, but I still think it's plenty fair because now you've got to find or grow more. I'd be nice about it to start with but if they didn't want to make it right I'd be an idiot.
 
Kind of depends on what your relationship is, then again if he's selling and leaving town it may be now or never.

Sunk costs to date, 60% of total yield you were expecting and 10-20% irritation/inconvenience fee.

Or same as above but drop only the irritation/inconvenience fee and have him lease his place out to you through the hay season to bale it as well to help make up losses, but paper it up before he sells. Sounds like it's not near as good as yours, but at least it's free forage.

That way, you're at least close to being made whole on a bale count perspective or possibly a little better.

Sorry for the bad luck, I would be so disappointed/gut punched if this same thing happened to me.
 
Can you get the bush hogged grass baled? I would want to do something to get it off the field so that it doesn't smother the new grass coming through.

Ken
 
wbvs58 said:
Can you get the bush hogged grass baled? I would want to do something to get it off the field so that it doesn't smother the new grass coming through.

Ken

I was thinking about that or at least raking it up and getting it off somehow for new growth.
 
ValleyView said:
Kind of depends on what your relationship is, then again if he's selling and leaving town it may be now or never.

Sunk costs to date, 60% of total yield you were expecting and 10-20% irritation/inconvenience fee.

Or same as above but drop only the irritation/inconvenience fee and have him lease his place out to you through the hay season to bale it as well to help make up losses, but paper it up before he sells. Sounds like it's not near as good as yours, but at least it's free forage.

That way, you're at least close to being made whole on a bale count perspective or possibly a little better.

Sorry for the bad luck, I would be so disappointed/gut punched if this same thing happened to me.

He's a really good guy and I know it was a dumb mistake but still.......

As dumb as it sounds I was really looking forward to baling this. I've put a lot of time and effort into it to get it as good as it was. I have no doubt i would have gotten double the yield from the past couple years.
 
CCCowman said:
ValleyView said:
Kind of depends on what your relationship is, then again if he's selling and leaving town it may be now or never.

Sunk costs to date, 60% of total yield you were expecting and 10-20% irritation/inconvenience fee.

Or same as above but drop only the irritation/inconvenience fee and have him lease his place out to you through the hay season to bale it as well to help make up losses, but paper it up before he sells. Sounds like it's not near as good as yours, but at least it's free forage.

That way, you're at least close to being made whole on a bale count perspective or possibly a little better.

Sorry for the bad luck, I would be so disappointed/gut punched if this same thing happened to me.

He's a really good guy and I know it was a dumb mistake but still.......

As dumb as it sounds I was really looking forward to baling this. I've put a lot of time and effort into it to get it as good as it was. I have no doubt i would have gotten double the yield from the past couple years.

It doesn't sound dumb at all. Working to improve your ground and yields is why we do what we do.

I agree with the others, I'd possibly try to get it raked and up out of the way of new grass. Hire it done and send him the bill.
 
CCCowman said:
wbvs58 said:
Can you get the bush hogged grass baled? I would want to do something to get it off the field so that it doesn't smother the new grass coming through.

Ken

I was thinking about that or at least raking it up and getting it off somehow for new growth.

Not sure exactly how tall it was but you should be able to bale bush hogged grass. Years ago we cut a really rough hayfield with a rotary mower and baled it. No problem. May lose a little but it'll still bale.
 
Neighbor was genuinely sorry/upset that his hired man cut my hay field. He paid me for 120 bales ($30 for 4x5) and 1/2 of the fertilizer cost. Plus he gave me his field to cut until he sells it. He's asking $240k for 20 acres. He said "I don't have to sell it but If some fool will pay me that for it I will. I'll even lime and fertilize it for ya" I think he did me right on this. I'm happy with it anyway. I did rake it Monday and square baled it last night. Only got 95 bales..... better than feeding a snowball in an emergency.
 

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