Standing Hay Price

[mncattle]

I was wondering what you guys think grass hay is worth per bale out in the field. I have a guy that would like me to bale his grass hay. He does not want the hay and I am wondering what I should pay him per bale. The grass is mostly brome and has not been hayed for a couple years. I was thinking $15 a bale. Is that too much not enough? He wanted me to pay by the acre but I told him it would be better to do by the bale since we normally get two cutting off grass a year.
Thanks

 

[Angus Cowman]

15 sounds plenty High to me IIRC the most I have ever paid for standing grass hay was $7 and that was a good proven hay field
$5 is the most on just common fields that haven't been taken care of

 

[shorty]

I used to make hay on shares with another farmer , when we sold it he got 1/3 and I got 2/3 , When we made it real nice we both made out , and if we got caught with a shower both of us took the loss , he also furnished a barn to keep it in. If you're keeping the hay for yourself , you could put a price on it what you think it's worth and the give him 1/3 of that . We did all the work and the owner did nothing .

 

[mncattle]

I think hay is worth quite a bit more up here(minnesota) than it is around you Angus Cowman? correct me if I am wrong. This hay should be worth at least $50 this summer maybe even quite a bit more depending on what is going on with hay supply. I would be selling and feeding this hay.

I really think if I offered $5 a bale I would probably be kicked out the door. :lol2:

 

[mncattle]

Shorty

Not a bad idea. I do quite a few shares on 1/3, 2/3 and like doing it that way. I never thought about just paying him for his third.

 

[skyhightree1]

I also pay 7.00 per bale here on a 150 acre piece that used to be a horse farm has excellent hay. There is alot of people here that have fields they don't want to be row cropped and give you the hay if you cut it but some places are full of weeds so you gotta spray them.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I think hay is worth quite a bit more up here(minnesota) than it is around you Angus Cowman? correct me if I am wrong. This hay should be worth at least $50 this summer maybe even quite a bit more depending on what is going on with hay supply. I would be selling and feeding this hay.

I really think if I offered $5 a bale I would probably be kicked out the door. :lol2:

is he paying for the fertilizer ?
at $50 pr bale sale price lets see what you will have in it if you give him $15 pr bale

baling $15-17
Fert $15
His $15
total $45-$47
so if the hay is worth $50 pr bale then you would be better off leaving your equipment in the barn and doing something else besides baling hay and just buy your hay
plus you will have the cost of moving the hay off the field which we always chargerd $2 to moved to edge of field and any where from $5 up if we had to mov it any further

 

[fitz]

I also pay 7.00 per bale here on a 150 acre piece that used to be a horse farm has excellent hay. There is alot of people here that have fields they don't want to be row cropped and give you the hay if you cut it but some places are full of weeds so you gotta spray them.

We're in the same ball park as I'm paying 6.00 per 4x4 roll to landowners before the rest of my input costs are factored in.

fitz

 

[mncattle]

I can tell you right now I will not be paying for any fertilizer. This would just be a straight I take the hay and he gets a check. If he fertilizes he may get a bigger check from me but the less he fertilizes the less money he will get from me. I know if I was paying for fertilizer I would not be coming out ahead.

 

[1982vett]

I also pay 7.00 per bale here on a 150 acre piece that used to be a horse farm has excellent hay. There is alot of people here that have fields they don't want to be row cropped and give you the hay if you cut it but some places are full of weeds so you gotta spray them.

;-) Some weeds are fairly nutritious...Last year I baled some pasture that was full of weeds (wild mustard, thistle, curly dock and others) and tested 10.5% protein. Weedless tested 10%. :shock: Never the less, I'd rather have the weedless hay to feed.

I can tell you right now I will not be paying for any fertilizer. This would just be a straight I take the hay and he gets a check. If he fertilizes he may get a bigger check from me but the less he fertilizes the less money he will get from me. I know if I was paying for fertilizer I would not be coming out ahead.

Maybe agree on a ballpark figure pending a forage test....10% or better X amount.....9 - 10% = X amount.....less than 9% at X amount.

 

[bigbull338]

i to think the standing hay is worth $7 to $8 a bale standing.now in a drought id say $10 to $12 a bale standing.

 

[skeeter swatter]

Hay in MN is HIGH this year, and with high grain prices will still be next year. I`d be happy to offer $12 and would still take it at 15.

BTW you can get it custom baled for 8 to10.

 

[bigbull338]

here we are thinking about charging $16 a bale just to bale.an thats with a 5 by 6 baler.

 

[Dave]

If the hay is worth $50 a bale and all you are doing is making the hay. It works out to the same as making it on shares for a 70/30 split. That is a fair split. If hay is hard to come by in your area it makes sense to do it because in the end you will have hay. One can never have too much hay.

 

[Toad]

I cut hay on a 80 acre farm and pay $6 per bale. If the farm was less than 40 acres I don't think I would pay that much.

 

[JenkinsFarm7]

I cut hay on a 80 acre farm and pay $6 per bale. If the farm was less than 40 acres I don't think I would pay that much.

Agree. The more hay I can bale at one location without having to move equipment, the more I'll pay.
On free ground with no Fert. and just what grass grows I have 17.30 per 5x4 roll in the barn on an average cut. Most of my fields are 10 miles or less and I can haul 14 rolls per load. Down here we can buy good hay for about 25 dollars a roll out of the barn so if I invested 5$ per roll it would be cheaper on me to stay at the house and buy my hay. Dad always says "You can stay at the house and be broke but at least you won't be broke and tired" .

 

[kjonesel]

Just paid the fertilizer bill with application. We had good soil tests ( not terribly out of line on anything) and fertilized for 4 ton per acre and the cost was $80.00 an acre.
My neighbor just bought a 4x4 baler for the simple reason people are stuck in the mindset of a per bale price. We bale a 5x6 bale and to a customer it still is worth the same to them. My brothers bale the big suares and sell it only by the ton. To me that has always been the most fair way.

 

[Tim/South]

I bale one field on shares, 50-50. It is 30 acres. He fertilizes and limes. I cut, fluff, rake and bale.
I pay him $30 per roll for his half of the hay. $35 if he stores it in his barn until I need it.

 

[OldCrow]

I also pay 7.00 per bale here on a 150 acre piece that used to be a horse farm has excellent hay. There is alot of people here that have fields they don't want to be row cropped and give you the hay if you cut it but some places are full of weeds so you gotta spray them.

We're in the same ball park as I'm paying 6.00 per 4x4 roll to landowners before the rest of my input costs are factored in.

fitz

Another important thing left out of the equation is the size of the bale as bigbull mentioned. If mncattle is using a 5'x6' baler than the figures would be comparable to your 4'x4' bale. Assuming the density of the two balers to produce the same density bale mncattle is paying a $0.94 premium over what you pay in your area per bale for a 4'x4'. The volume of a 4'x4 is 50.26 Cubic Feet(CF) while that of a 5'x6' is 117.81 CF so mncattle gets 2.34 4'x4' bales, comparitively speaking, in his 5'x6' bale. 2.34 x $6 = $14.06 /bale

It sounds like skyhightree is getting a great deal :tiphat: on a 150 acre piece of ground but I would gamble and say that isn't the norm, at least not for our area.

Just paid the fertilizer bill with application. We had good soil tests ( not terribly out of line on anything) and fertilized for 4 ton per acre and the cost was $80.00 an acre.
My neighbor just bought a 4x4 baler for the simple reason people are stuck in the mindset of a per bale price. We bale a 5x6 bale and to a customer it still is worth the same to them. My brothers bale the big suares and sell it only by the ton. To me that has always been the most fair way.

I have seen this in our area as well. I know a custom baler that is selling his 5'x6' baler to get a 4'x4' baler because no one wants to give more for a 5'x6' roll. This could partly be because people want to use smaller tractors but I believe alot of it is they don't understand how much more pounds are in the 5'x6' bale over the 4'x4' bale.