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Need Help/Advise... novice but shopping for haying equipment
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<blockquote data-quote="farmerjan" data-source="post: 1604320" data-attributes="member: 25884"><p>$3.00 bale is very reasonable in my opinion if they are putting it in the barn. If you are selling the hay, you ought to be able to recoup that cost and feed your cattle basically for nothing, plus you are not out any time, not to mention the cost of equipment, fuel, etc., and so on mentioned by all the others. What do sq bales of hay sell for in your area? If this is irrigated hayfields, what kind of hay and does it command a premium price from people? </p><p>Just for some comparisons. We sell sq bales of hay to several horse customers. This is orchard grass hay, usually 2nd cutting due to the weather being iffy to get sq bales made on 1st cutting. Most all our hay is rolled 1st cutting because we are working against the weather, more rain more often and some of the hay getting over mature by the time we can get it made.</p><p></p><p>We try to make 2-3,000 square bales a year. We have all the equipment, all old and bought here and there over the years. Just spent over $700 to have the sq baler gone over, needed some work on the knives and the knotters....I am not a mechanic, don't know the particulars. We make sq bales in the 50 lb size. Sell them delivered for $7-8.00 bale. These are long standing regular customers that help unload, and pay when we leave, in cash. We have 3 customers that we can deliver to at the same time, in the same area, none can use a whole load of 200+ so it works out well. We sell for $5.00 off the wagon in the field. Our baler has a kicker, but we stack the bales so they keep their shape and if they get stored on the wagons in the shed we can tell exactly how many bales are on the wagons. If we have to put the wagons in the sheds, the price goes up to $6.00 bale. </p><p>We custom sq bale for a friend and get $3.00 bale from him. His field, his hay, he cuts and rakes....that is just baling. That is the going rate here. He only wants 100-200 sq bales to use for his goats, everything else is round baled for his cows. </p><p>Round bales are $8.00 bale for twine, these are 5x5; $12.00 for net wrapped, these are 4x5....baling only.</p><p>We custom make the hay for one neighbor, first cutting, then he pastures the field late for the cows for winter forage and feeds hay. I believe we get somewhere in the average of $20.00 a bale, cut, raked, baled. My son charges by the time for the cutting & raking , and if it needs to be tedded out to dry it faster. The baling is by the bale. This is standard in our area. This is also not on irrigated hay ground. </p><p></p><p>If I am figuring it @ 65 lb average, you are getting about 30 bales to the ton. That's $90 ton. If this is in your barn, then can you go out and buy that same hay, put in your barn for that price? I am assuming that you are paying for the fertilizer since it is your field so that makes the cost go up on a per bale. What is the cost of the fertilizer? </p><p>Does he get the hay made in a timely manner and is it nice hay? One thing to consider, over and above the costs of machinery/equipment, fuel, breakdowns/parts, and your actual physical labor (which pays next to nothing back) is can you get the hay made when it needs to be made? Seriously, because we juggle 2 jobs and trying to get hay made when the weather is right. That is our biggest challenge, being able to drop everything because the next 3-4-5 days are perfect for making hay. </p><p>Since you are irrigating, I am assuming that you do not have to deal with working around rain like we do here. God bless you for that, it can be the most difficult part of it. Had hay down, 3 days of less than 10% chance rain. We got over 2 inches of rain those 3 days total when we weren't supposed to really get any. Had 5 days of 30-40% chance that we only got clouds another time. So you play the game and take chances when it looks good, and hope you don't fall in that little 10% bracket.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="farmerjan, post: 1604320, member: 25884"] $3.00 bale is very reasonable in my opinion if they are putting it in the barn. If you are selling the hay, you ought to be able to recoup that cost and feed your cattle basically for nothing, plus you are not out any time, not to mention the cost of equipment, fuel, etc., and so on mentioned by all the others. What do sq bales of hay sell for in your area? If this is irrigated hayfields, what kind of hay and does it command a premium price from people? Just for some comparisons. We sell sq bales of hay to several horse customers. This is orchard grass hay, usually 2nd cutting due to the weather being iffy to get sq bales made on 1st cutting. Most all our hay is rolled 1st cutting because we are working against the weather, more rain more often and some of the hay getting over mature by the time we can get it made. We try to make 2-3,000 square bales a year. We have all the equipment, all old and bought here and there over the years. Just spent over $700 to have the sq baler gone over, needed some work on the knives and the knotters....I am not a mechanic, don't know the particulars. We make sq bales in the 50 lb size. Sell them delivered for $7-8.00 bale. These are long standing regular customers that help unload, and pay when we leave, in cash. We have 3 customers that we can deliver to at the same time, in the same area, none can use a whole load of 200+ so it works out well. We sell for $5.00 off the wagon in the field. Our baler has a kicker, but we stack the bales so they keep their shape and if they get stored on the wagons in the shed we can tell exactly how many bales are on the wagons. If we have to put the wagons in the sheds, the price goes up to $6.00 bale. We custom sq bale for a friend and get $3.00 bale from him. His field, his hay, he cuts and rakes....that is just baling. That is the going rate here. He only wants 100-200 sq bales to use for his goats, everything else is round baled for his cows. Round bales are $8.00 bale for twine, these are 5x5; $12.00 for net wrapped, these are 4x5....baling only. We custom make the hay for one neighbor, first cutting, then he pastures the field late for the cows for winter forage and feeds hay. I believe we get somewhere in the average of $20.00 a bale, cut, raked, baled. My son charges by the time for the cutting & raking , and if it needs to be tedded out to dry it faster. The baling is by the bale. This is standard in our area. This is also not on irrigated hay ground. If I am figuring it @ 65 lb average, you are getting about 30 bales to the ton. That's $90 ton. If this is in your barn, then can you go out and buy that same hay, put in your barn for that price? I am assuming that you are paying for the fertilizer since it is your field so that makes the cost go up on a per bale. What is the cost of the fertilizer? Does he get the hay made in a timely manner and is it nice hay? One thing to consider, over and above the costs of machinery/equipment, fuel, breakdowns/parts, and your actual physical labor (which pays next to nothing back) is can you get the hay made when it needs to be made? Seriously, because we juggle 2 jobs and trying to get hay made when the weather is right. That is our biggest challenge, being able to drop everything because the next 3-4-5 days are perfect for making hay. Since you are irrigating, I am assuming that you do not have to deal with working around rain like we do here. God bless you for that, it can be the most difficult part of it. Had hay down, 3 days of less than 10% chance rain. We got over 2 inches of rain those 3 days total when we weren't supposed to really get any. Had 5 days of 30-40% chance that we only got clouds another time. So you play the game and take chances when it looks good, and hope you don't fall in that little 10% bracket. [/QUOTE]
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