RefugeRanch
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- Dec 4, 2008
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Is there a minimum amount of acres and or cattle one should own in order to justify purchasing a round baler???
tncattle467":2ayfr6co said:I have 12 acres of bermuda grass planted. I will be hiring someone to bale it for me. They will be charging me 11 dollars an acre. That is alot cheaper than me buying a round baler and doing it myself.
BC":1w8rx733 said:Hay cutting, raking and baling costs $19 to $22 per roll here in East Texas. I bet he meant $11 per bale.
Aaron":3thdsoun said:You buying new, used, or ancient?
New - 800 acres
Used - 300 acres
Ancient - 50 acres
This is assuming you already own a tractor that can accommodate a round baler.
Anything less than 50 acres and you might as well hire someone to do it. :cowboy:
jerry27150":bfj87uzg said:if you can find a baler you can make better hay & at the right time & get three cuttings of great hay. usually if you hire it done they get to it when they can & usually you are not first on the list & get one cutting of hay that isn't worth much & you end up buying grain to compensate for the poor hay. if you have someone that is willing to drop everything & do your haying on time then go for it
I have to agree with this. But you also have make a comparison as to the economics of buying hay vs. raising hay. People also forget to place the lost value of pasture into their equation. I leased a place to bale hay. The plan is to sell enough to pay for mine. With my ancient equipment it works out on paper. With new or even late model equipment there is no way in hades it would ever (relative to my life expectancy) pencil out in a small operation.Jogeephus":2mmm7bsi said:jerry27150":2mmm7bsi said:if you can find a baler you can make better hay & at the right time & get three cuttings of great hay. usually if you hire it done they get to it when they can & usually you are not first on the list & get one cutting of hay that isn't worth much & you end up buying grain to compensate for the poor hay. if you have someone that is willing to drop everything & do your haying on time then go for it
That pretty well sums up my feelings. Personally, I like to be self sufficient. Doing it myself I know what hay is good and what is not and I no longer have to rely on someone else's word to fill my hay needs. Having hay equipment also comes in handy in a year like this when the grazing just didn't do too well because of the cold winter. Lots of producers are short. I sold 200 extra rolls today to a fella who is feeding 17 rolls per day. This will go a long way in handling my fertilizer bill for the year.