Haying this week in Alabama

[Nowland Farms]

I was able to get some hay cut this week in Alabama. I worked out a deal earlier this year with a local farmer a couple of miles down the road to "custom bale" my hay. For $12 per 4'x5' roll he was cut, tedder, rake and bale. I have loaded his bales last year (neighbor used him) and his bales are tight and average 1000 lbs each.

Every week for the last 3 or 4 weeks the farmer would stop by to look at the hay to see if it was ready. On Monday we decided it was ready. He started cutting on Tuesday around 11am. We had perfect weather, the highs were in the upper 80s in the daytime with a breeze and the nights were in the mid 60s. He teddered the hay on Wednesday. Thursday morning we decided the hay was dry and he started to rake and bale around noon.

This field was 13.5 acres and we got 68 4'x5' bales each weighing around 1000lbs. That's 5 bales to the acres and we have had less than 1" of rain in the last 7 or 8 weeks. Not bad considering not enough rain. The farmer actually tried to buy the hay saying it was the best he had seen this year.

Here are some pictures -


Grass before cutting

Custom Baler cutting hay with his JD4430

Raking Hay with older JD

Raking and Baleing

Me hauling the hay to the barn as soon as it came out of the baler

Added - Hay stored in the barn. Hay was in the barn within an hour of exiting the baler.

Despite having almost no rain, I am please with the amount and quality of hay I got of the Fescue field this week. I turned the cows in on the field and they are having a good time cleaning up the edges.





My cost to produce each bale is :
$17.16 = fertilizer
$12.00 = Custom Baleing
$29.16 per bale.

This cost does not include land, barn, or any of the misc cost associated with hay

 

[MikeC]

Looks like a pretty good turnout Rod.

You gonna send a sample to Auburn and have it analyzed for nutrients and fescue endophytes?

 

[rattler]

Noland don't know who is doing the rakeing but they sure makein some fine lookin wind row's.


rattler

 

[Jogeephus]

Just a suggestion, but you might want to post a guard in your hayfield. That's looking pretty darn tempting. :lol:

 

[Nowland Farms]

Cost to produce each bale was added to the original post.

 

[hillsdown]

Nowland that is really nice looking hay.Sure makes a person think though at 30$ a bale and not even counting the land/labor etc.Make a person wonder how we can break even let alone make a living.How many cuts do you think you will get this year if you do finally get some rain?

 

[Nowland Farms]

HD,

Since this field is Fescue I will only get 1 cutting. Fescue is a cool season grass and thus the reason for a good spring cutting.

Here is my game plan for grazing and hay:
-I should be able to let the cows graze the fescue field through the summer while I let the bermuda mix field grow (that is if we get rain).
-I'll should get a cutting off the bermuda/mix field sometime in late summer/early fall provided we get rain and I time my nitrogen correctly.
-When I cut the Bermuda mix field I will turn the cows in and take them off the fescue.
-This fall I will hit the fescue with nitrogen for the fall green up and I will stockpile fescue for the winter.
-In November I will turn the cows in on the fescue and the cows should be able to graze green grass thru the end of February when I will pull them off to allow the fescue to greenup.
-and a new thing for late fall of this year - I plan to drill some rye grass into the bermuda/mix field to help with the grazing before bermuda greenup next spring.

This spring (February and March) I only had to feed hay for a miminal number of days. My goal for this winter is to not have to feed any hay while the cows maintain their body condition. We will see.

 

[gertman]

Nowland Farms at $29.16 a bale if you were to sell any excess hay you would probably need to ask at least $40 a bale right? The reason I ask is that some people think I'm crazy when I ask for $40-$45 a bale, but they have no idea what it costs to make a bale of QUALITY hay.
Also how do you like the Kubota? I'm trying to decide between a Kubota 8540 or the Deere 5425.

 

[Nowland Farms]

Gertman,

If I were to sell it would probably be $50 per roll. Years past, I would estimate what I needed and sell the rest. Last years drought from June thru thru August and this year drought since middle of March has gotten me worried about having grass/hay for my cows. I believe I will hold on to my hay for now.

As far as the Kubota, it's a 7040 with the schuttle shift, based on my personal experience I highly recommend the orange tractor. Folks on here will argue on the merits of green tractors and they have valid points. But as the local dealer who owns both a Kubota dealership and a JD dealership told me a few years back, he can sell me more oragne tractor than he can green tractor for the same amount of money. I am lucky, the Kubota dealer is owned by a guy I went to school with and one of the salesmen is a neighbor of mine. I recomend the Kubota.

 

[jgibson]

We have already put in our hay order this year. Last year people were having a hard time finding hay, so I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry.

I have a JD tractor I purchased new in October 06. It was cheaper than any of the others I looked at.

 

[Bez>]

Snowed here in the boonies of Alberta - three days ago.

Bez>

 

[certherfbeef]

Snowed here in the boonies of Alberta - three days ago.

Bez>

Hard frost for several days here. Fried my garden black. That is what I get for trying to get ahead of mother nature.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Looks like a pretty good turnout Rod.

You gonna send a sample to Auburn and have it analyzed for nutrients and fescue endophytes?

are you kiddin. it's worth a fortune just like it is. it's green and wadded up in a bail ;-)

 

[sidney411]

I've always heard not to stack hay for a couple days after it's baled so if it's going to burn up it won't burn all your hay and barn down. Are you not worried about a bale catching fire?

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I've always heard not to stack hay for a couple days after it's baled so if it's going to burn up it won't burn all your hay and barn down. Are you not worried about a bale catching fire?

if its allowed to dry properly you wont have any problems. and as dry as its been i doubt he will. plus looks like it can get plenty of air.

 

[Nowland Farms]

Sidney,

Last year we baled and the hay had a bit more moisture than I would have liked but we were fighting rains and highs in the 60s. We let the bales sit under a shed for 4 weeks to cool off. We checked the bales daily by running our hand in the edges of the bale to check for warmth. I believe I read somewhere that a bale can take up to 2 weeks to reach it's max temperature if it is going to get hot.

This year it has been so dry, the hay is bone dry. We are checking the bales twice daily and feel no heat when we force our hand in the bales.

Yes, I and everyone should be concerned about hot bales, but when hay is put up properly, it is not a concern.

 

[alabama]

Is any of your hay for sale. I sure think I need to buy some.

 

[DoubleK]

What is the model number of that baler man? Those don't look like 4 by 5 bales to me.


Dub

 

[Nowland Farms]

Alabama, I believe I will hold onto this hay.

Dub, it's a JD435 baler which I understand will make 4x4. 4x5, 4x6 bales.



Another question for you folks here in Alabama, Who do you use to test your hay? How do you take the samples? I've never had my MaxQ hay tested but think I might have this hay tested to truely see what the soil requirments are.

 

[preston39]

Snowed here in the boonies of Alberta - three days ago.

Bez>

Hard frost for several days here. Fried my garden black. That is what I get for trying to get ahead of mother nature.

====

A tip from..... Mother Earth News...


Lay a brick on each side of the tomato plant(others)..it will absord the sun heat...then put a 5 gal plastic bucket over it at night.

We had a late freeze this year but, we have small tomatoes now. Quite a lead on the normal.

It works.