Making Money in the Cattle Business.

[grannysoo]

You don't need corn or grain to fatten cows.

If anyone saw mine right now on grass, they'd have to agree with you CB.

Sounds like some of them I've got too.... Looks like they're going to explode any minute now.

 

[tyhello12]

Thank you so much for the post. It's really useful. :cowboy:
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[cypressfarms]

This year I've tried something new with hay - I have a local guy who cuts hay come out and make hay on my land. He charges $18 a bale, and it seems to work pretty good so far. He cuts, bales and stacks the hay for me, and I cut him a check. The money I was spending on leasing land to hay was getting high, so far it looks like I'll get the same amount of hay as before, but save a little over $1000. I've also referred several people to him that have big time acreage to make hay on, so since I'm sending him business he cuts me some slack on the price. The only agreement is that I can't tell anyone around here how much he charges me or there may be some mad folks. Normal cut/balers charge in the mid to high $20's per bale.

 

[novaman]

I can't believe the money you guys have to spend to get your hay put up. It looks to me that you could save quite a bit of money by having your own equipment, unless of course you don't have much hay to put up. Right not I've got 1514 bales made. That would add up to $34,822 @ $23/bale!!! I can buy some nice equipment with that kind of money. Even if you only put up 100 bales per year that would be $2300. I would certainly think you could pencil it out to come ahead on that kind of figure. It is my opinion that the more you can do yourself, without hiring someone else, the more you can save.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I can't believe the money you guys have to spend to get your hay put up. It looks to me that you could save quite a bit of money by having your own equipment, unless of course you don't have much hay to put up. Right not I've got 1514 bales made. That would add up to $34,822 @ $23/bale!!! I can buy some nice equipment with that kind of money. Even if you only put up 100 bales per year that would be $2300. I think you could pencil it out to come ahead on thawould certainly t kind of figure. It is my opinion that the more you can do yourself, without hiring someone else, the more you can save.

not when you figure you have almost $12 per bale in expenses ie...fuel, twine wear and tear on equipment and then labor on top of that
and I know you can't figure labor but if you don't you are only kidding yourself to make the #s look better

before hiring anyone to do certain jobs I figure if I can be making as much or more money than it cost by doing something else while they are working for me

Unless you bale lots of hay or have to pay outrageous prices for baling than most times it is cheaper to either hire it done or 8 out of 10 yrs you can buy your hay cheaper if you are only feeding 100-200 bales because if you are not raising hay you can run more cows and also spend less money on fertilizer

I want to know how many bales to the acre are you guys getting when you are paying $20-25 pr bale for baling

 

[LimiMan]

Over the last couple years I have had hay cut and baled for $16-20. This year everything I have had done has ended up costing me $17 a bale, stacked in the field.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Over the last couple years I have had hay cut and baled for $16-20. This year everything I have had done has ended up costing me $17 a bale, stacked in the field.

Don't complain to him. I wish I could still get a deal like that

 

[mnmtranching]

You guys keep talking "so much per bale" You are aware [of coarse] That round bales will range from 400 pounds to 2400 pounds.

 

[novaman]

You guys keep talking "so much per bale" You are aware [of coarse] That round bales will range from 400 pounds to 2400 pounds.

Or 2500 pounds ! Made my first cutting alfalfa bales tighter so they would shed water better. Went to weighing them and I had a couple over 2500 pounds. On average mine are around 1600 pounds. Lot of guys put up 900 pound bales and then expect to get the same price as heavier bales because they see a bale as being a bale regardless of how much hay is in one. So if anyone buys hay either buy it by the ton or request the bales are weighed to keep from getting ripped off. Guessing bale weights is very difficult.

 

[Dave]

That is why anyone serious about buying hay around here buys by the ton. It doesn't matter what type of bales they are. People make real good money buying hay by the ton and then selling it off by the bale to the backyarders who only want a few bales and pay by the bale.

 

[mnmtranching]

Novaman and Dave. For sure get your bales weighed.
Actually, You guys know, remind others.

 

[irked]

You don't need corn or grain to fatten cows.

that's true, you sure don't. but a cow that is really fat on grass will get you gobby fat discounts at slaughter, not a premium. and you sure need corn or grain (and lots of it) to make a white cow. which is what you claimed to sell. but by all means, enlighten us dummies. since this thread is about making money in the cattle business, if you have some top secret method to take a short-mouthed cow, get 2 or 3 more calves out of her, and then sell her as a white cow, all without any corn or grain, the rest of us sure would like to hear it.

 

[TexasBred]

You guys keep talking "so much per bale" You are aware [of coarse] That round bales will range from 400 pounds to 2400 pounds.

Buy it by the ton and if possible buy yourself a simple moisture tester. It will pay for itself in the long run by the savings on high moisture hay.

 

[cypressfarms]

I want to know how many bales to the acre are you guys getting when you are paying $20-25 pr bale for baling

I'm getting just at 3 bales per acre, 4x5 bales of bahia. I do insist that the hay be cut when calf high, I want the protein content to still be good. Anyone can get more bales per acre if you let it seed out - but I'm guessing this isn't what you were getting at AC.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I want to know how many bales to the acre are you guys getting when you are paying $20-25 pr bale for baling

I'm getting just at 3 bales per acre, 4x5 bales of bahia. I do insist that the hay be cut when calf high, I want the protein content to still be good. Anyone can get more bales per acre if you let it seed out - but I'm guessing this isn't what you were getting at AC.

About the same here Cypress on Bahia the average on coastal Bahia mix fields are about 5 per acre.
I have one small leased coastal field that will kick out 10-12 with 400 pounds of fertilizer per acre.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I want to know how many bales to the acre are you guys getting when you are paying $20-25 pr bale for baling

I'm getting just at 3 bales per acre, 4x5 bales of bahia. I do insist that the hay be cut when calf high, I want the protein content to still be good. Anyone can get more bales per acre if you let it seed out - but I'm guessing this isn't what you were getting at AC.

Nope not what I was getting at I was just trying to get financial info on the cost per acre to bale around here i can usually get 5 - 1100-1220 lb green bales per acre (950-1000# cured) on an ok field most of mine will yield 6-7 bales per acre on average have baled as high as 9 bales per acre and as little as 2
also in our part of the country you can let bale it early and get fescue at 14% protein or bale it a little later and get 10-11% protein and a 1/3 more production
I would rather have 1300 bales of 10-11% proten hay than a 1000 bales of 14% also I can't cut all of mine early enough to get it at the 14% level because of weather
If I want a higher protein hay I plant the haybeans and millet and rye
my alfalfa produces about 1.6tons per acre per cutting and I get 3-4 cuttings
I use grass hay as the filler and I supplement with protein tubs if I feel I need more rotein it is cheaper in the long run than trying to raise higher protein hay

 

[cypressfarms]

I want to know how many bales to the acre are you guys getting when you are paying $20-25 pr bale for baling

I'm getting just at 3 bales per acre, 4x5 bales of bahia. I do insist that the hay be cut when calf high, I want the protein content to still be good. Anyone can get more bales per acre if you let it seed out - but I'm guessing this isn't what you were getting at AC.

Nope not what I was getting at I was just trying to get financial info on the cost per acre to bale around here i can usually get 5 - 1100-1220 lb green bales per acre (950-1000# cured) on an ok field most of mine will yield 6-7 bales per acre on average have baled as high as 9 bales per acre and as little as 2
also in our part of the country you can let bale it early and get fescue at 14% protein or bale it a little later and get 10-11% protein and a 1/3 more production
I would rather have 1300 bales of 10-11% proten hay than a 1000 bales of 14% also I can't cut all of mine early enough to get it at the 14% level because of weather
If I want a higher protein hay I plant the haybeans and millet and rye
my alfalfa produces about 1.6tons per acre per cutting and I get 3-4 cuttings
I use grass hay as the filler and I supplement with protein tubs if I feel I need more rotein it is cheaper in the long run than trying to raise higher protein hay

Now that's what I like - someone who has put the pencil to the paper and has all the details! That's how you make a profit. I get about 800-1000 pounds/dry on each bale on 4x5's. I don't fertilize, though, or if I do it's very little. This year I'm using normal pasture ground to make hay. I'll probably fertilize in October when I plant ryegrass, but that'll be it. I hate protein tubs, they cost too much! I think that opening a protein tub is like opening a feed sack - when you do it, your profit leaves.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Now that's what I like - someone who has put the pencil to the paper and has all the details! That's how you make a profit. I get about 800-1000 pounds/dry on each bale on 4x5's. I don't fertilize, though, or if I do it's very little. This year I'm using normal pasture ground to make hay. I'll probably fertilize in October when I plant ryegrass, but that'll be it.
I hate protein tubs, they cost too much! I think that opening a protein tub is like opening a feed sack - when you do it, your profit leaves.

I will agree that tubs cost money but it also depends on your situation you have to weigh the cost to gain the tubs I feed are 36% protein and 12% phosphorous and I calve in the fall and therefore my cows are needing extra protein for milk production
the cost last yr to feed tubs was $0.27 per day per cow/calf pair for a 4 month period it also lessens the amount of hay I have to feed because I can run on stockpiles grass that they otherwise wouldn't clean up as well therefore saving on fuel and wear and tear on equipment and it also lessened my mineral cost by about $.02 per hd per day and the tubs I use have 12% phosphorous so it helps my cows breed back better in the winter therefore letting me have a higher % of breds in a 60 day breeding season
and also the cows come out of winter with a good BCS and their calves are slick and usually weighing in around 450-500 lbs at 180-190days

 

[novaman]

I would rather have 1300 bales of 10-11% proten hay than a 1000 bales of 14% also I can't cut all of mine early enough to get it at the 14% level because of weather

If you run the numbers it seems you would be better off with the higher protein hay but I understand the weather thing. I don't quite follow how you use the protein tubs. Are you using them only when grazing or when you feed the lower protein hay?

 

[Angus Cowman]

I would rather have 1300 bales of 10-11% proten hay than a 1000 bales of 14% also I can't cut all of mine early enough to get it at the 14% level because of weather

If you run the numbers it seems you would be better off with the higher protein hay but I understand the weather thing. I don't quite follow how you use the protein tubs. Are you using them only when grazing or when you feed the lower protein hay?

I use them when in the winter to supplement the stockpiled grazing and also when I am feeding hay in the winter
How do you figure it would be cheaper to feed higher protein hay to do that I would have to buy it and the cost would be more than the 27cents per day per cow/calf pair if I bought alfalfa at $150 per ton and fed each cow 5 lbs that would be 37.5 cents per day and then by the time you figure fuel and and the piece of equipment to put it out especially in the months that I am grazing stockpiled fescue I don't see how that is cheaper

feeding the tubs for a 100 days (only as a reference #) is only $27.00 per cow calf pair I can't buy any hay that will be higher protein and feed them for 100 days for that price plus I would have to feed the hay the full 100 days where with the tubs I can utilize the grass I have and not have to feed the hay but 50 days out of that 100
I usually don't feed much hay before the 1st of Jan and am usually done feeding hay by the 1st of April because of the tubs I can get 60 days or more grazing on stockpiled grasses