dieselbeef
Well-known member
yea man i sent ya pics of my new tractor on the trlr with hay on it. i can load my trctr and 4 rolls. which aint much but it is handy to do sometimes to save atrip
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dieselbeef
Well-known member
alright..back on track..ill stop
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Anonymous
Change your name to sidetrackdieselbeef":3bv5n9tx said:
dieselbeef
Well-known member
threadjacker is better
Phil in Tupelo
Well-known member
I don't know, hook, $23 a bale delivered doesn't seem too bad. If you are now going from can to can't, what are you going to give up? Then you have tractor here, baler there, cows over yonder and you're here. Do you have a barn? How many bales a year do you use? If left over can it be stored for next year? Unless you like it, putting up hay is a mess of work with or without the weather and all the other stuff you have to deal with. Good Luck.
That's quite a bit of hay to cut. It'd be a decent amount of work cutting, fluffing, raking, and bailing it all. Can you line up enough help to get it all done between the rains? How much do you use a year? If you have extra you could probably sell you don't need and pay for your equipment, which would lower your cost.
Tim/South
Well-known member
Hire it done.
I bought a round baler since I could not get mine rolled when needed. If I could get nice dense rolls made and delivered for $23 I would sell my baler.
You will still have to add the cost of fertilizer into the mix but you will know what you are getting.
I really enjoy making hay, especially round bales. It can become stressful when the weather does not cooperate. It also takes more time to haul hay than I originally considered.
When you buy hay of hire it done, it is 100% deductible. Do it yourself and you can only count expenses. Not allowed to pay yourself for your time.
I bought a round baler since I could not get mine rolled when needed. If I could get nice dense rolls made and delivered for $23 I would sell my baler.
You will still have to add the cost of fertilizer into the mix but you will know what you are getting.
I really enjoy making hay, especially round bales. It can become stressful when the weather does not cooperate. It also takes more time to haul hay than I originally considered.
When you buy hay of hire it done, it is 100% deductible. Do it yourself and you can only count expenses. Not allowed to pay yourself for your time.
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Anonymous
I have a barn and will have no problem selling my excess for the going rate. I expect to use 100 this year. Maybe 120
denvermartinfarms
Well-known member
Selling the extra in your high dollar market, kinda makes buying some good used equipment look alright. What do you have for a tractor? I think I did k ow but I can't remember.hooknline":1ol1xmm2 said:
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Anonymous
A 40 hp mahindra. But I don't want to go into the hay business. Sounds like I should just hire it out and if it becomes a problem revisit the issue
denvermartinfarms
Well-known member
Well, since you would need a tractor and all 3 pieces, paying that 18$ may be the way to go.hooknline":2zhizvqp said:
Since I bale my own I'm always thinking how it would be better to hire it done and put my equipment money into cattle, but I know as soon as I did I would be thinking just the opposite.
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Anonymous
Grass is always Greener on the other side huh
denvermartinfarms
Well-known member
Pretty much :nod:hooknline":3hghj3bv said:
Tim/South
Well-known member
We have baled our own hay since 1974, square baled back in the day. I sometimes wonder what I would do with my time if life did not revolve around baling hay.denvermartinfarms":3ocou7ic said:
I roll 600+ each year, feed 500. I am a one man show with the help of my son who usually rakes. I will still buy excess quality hay when I have a chance. It takes some coins to lime, fertilize and spray to keep a field in good shape. I bought 50 roll of great Bermuda this year for $25. No way the man made any money on that.
Finding quality hay for $25 is rare here. A lot of $25 junk out there. Net wrap can hide a lot of sage and weeds.
jedstivers
Well-known member
For 2,760 you need to keep having it bailed. Since your in a high market try to make extra and sell it to offset that some.
Aaron
Well-known member
Even if you ran with antique haying equipment like I do, your still investing a fair bit into machinery and fuel for very little acreage. Add in breakdowns and parts and a little acreage can add up to a big headache, quick.
You're, by far, further off buying hay, and buying in bulk to secure a better deal.
I think less than 80-100 acres and pretty much anyone is further off buying hay.
You're, by far, further off buying hay, and buying in bulk to secure a better deal.
I think less than 80-100 acres and pretty much anyone is further off buying hay.
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Anonymous
One piece I started feeding hay in October. It didn't get much rain. The rest I just started last week. Usually run through March 1 but that all depends on the rain tooBigfoot":2nzvmwkg said:
denvermartinfarms
Well-known member
And here in a normal year I feed from December first to sometime in march or early April. I always thought you would be feeding alot shorter season.hooknline":2x7chnvm said:
SmokinM
Well-known member
In the same boat myself however I feed about 300 + rolls a year. Have a older farmer that is retiring that has offered me his equipment all fairly new and in excellent repair and I can buy it all in one stop but it is still not cheap! I am young and plan on growing my cattle operation for along time and have a goal of 150+ cows. I hate to go in debt but 8k a year in hay and more in the future is tough too. I lean toward this as the way to go any thoughts? Also only custom baler in the area is in his 80s & I have about 50 head now & I have the hay land leased taking it over from same farmer. Thanks.
