Thinking about quitting hay....

[hillbilly beef man]

I have been kicking around the idea of pasturing my hayfields and buying hay and was wondering if anyone else has gone through the same thing. Right now 4x4 rolls are going for $15, and it takes five of them to get a cow through an average winter. I would have to haul it around 50 miles each way, but I have a pretty good single axle truck and trailer to haul it on. Money wise I would come out way ahead with the increased numbers of cows I could run, but what I want to know is how aggravating is it trying to buy hay every year? Is it any more aggravating than trying to get hay up and work full time? Thanks for any input.

 

[TexasBred]

I suppose everyone has their own preferences. I always figured I could buy better hay than I could put up while not having the investment in buying and maintaining haying equipment that I'd use 2-3 times a year. Has worked fine for me so far.

 

[J&D Cattle]

I think the size of your operation plays a big role in your decision. If you are a small time farmer like myself, 24 mommas, to me it makes more sense to put additional cows on the ground and buy hay. If you are big and can actually save yourself some money by baling your own hay and or taking on additional custom hay jobs it might be worth it. I'm somebody who doesn't enjoy working on old equipment at every turn so it would be a money pit for me.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

I have been kicking around the idea of pasturing my hayfields and buying hay and was wondering if anyone else has gone through the same thing. going for $15, and it takes five of them to get a cow through an average winter. I would have to haul it Right now 4x4 rolls are around 50 miles each way, but I have a pretty good single axle truck and trailer to haul it on. Money wise I would come out way ahead with the increased numbers of cows I could run, but what I want to know is how aggravating is it trying to buy hay every year? Is it any more aggravating than trying to get hay up and work full time? Thanks for any input.

yall have had good rains,, the way these droughts are paying everyone a visit nowdays, that 15 dollars might double are triple next year.. just this spring my hay went up and down in value, just to produce , like the stockmarket.... and ill tell you, having my own equipment makes me feel more secure, than being at the mercy of others...

 

[bigbull338]

sure that $15 hay is cheap.but by the time you add in your hauling your looking at $35 a bale give or take.

 

[Dave]

I quit doing hay in '98. I had got to the point that all I did was make hay from May to September. I figured that I might want to do something else in the summer. Like go fishing with the grandkids. And 4 years out of 5 I can buy hay cheaper than I could make it. I have enough animals now that I am thinking about buying equipment once again. But then I remember how much time it took. This year it took me 5 days to haul my hay home. Add in the time it would have taken to mow, rake, and bale that much hay..... It is sure a lot easier to just buy it.

 

[greybeard]

I have been kicking around the idea of pasturing my hayfields and buying hay and was wondering if anyone else has gone through the same thing. Right now 4x4 rolls are going for $15, and it takes five of them to get a cow through an average winter. I would have to haul it around 50 miles each way, but I have a pretty good single axle truck and trailer to haul it on. Money wise I would come out way ahead with the increased numbers of cows I could run, but what I want to know is how aggravating is it trying to buy hay every year? Is it any more aggravating than trying to get hay up and work full time? Thanks for any input.

Pretty aggravating when serious drought pays ya a visit, and hay doubles or X3 in price while decreasing X3 in availability.. I don't produce hay because of my tallow tree problem, but I wish I did.
Cut back on the acreage allocated for hay and increase herd size, but keep your options open to make hay should it look like drought will move your direction.

by bigbull338 » Wed Aug 22, 2012 9:55 am

sure that $15 hay is cheap.but by the time you add in your hauling your looking at $35 a bale give or take.

I saw sq bales going for that $15 all over his area--in the field last year. Dunno if they were selling much of it, but that was what it was advertised for.

 

[heath]

sure that $15 hay is cheap.but by the time you add in your hauling your looking at $35 a bale give or take.

Assuming he can only haul 10 at a time. At a 100 mile round trip getting 10 miles a gallon and $4 fuel, that's $40 dollars a trip. That figures out to only $19 a bale. What would cost the other $16?

 

[Limomike]

Its still just a matter of personal preference. If hay around here was at $15-20 per bale consistantly, I would for sure run more cattle, and buy hay. But now with it running 50-70 per bale, I am sticking to doing it on the shares. I try to keep my herd numbers down, so I have plenty of grass even in a drought situation... never did like to overgraze.
We used to have our own equipment to cut, rake, and bale, but it IS very time consuming, especially trying to work another job. So thats why I started doing out hay on the shares with the neighbor.

 

[alisonb]

keep your options open to make hay

That's good advice.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

sure that $15 hay is cheap.but by the time you add in your hauling your looking at $35 a bale give or take.

Assuming he can only haul 10 at a time. At a 100 mile round trip getting 10 miles a gallon and $4 fuel, that's $40 dollars a trip. That figures out to only $19 a bale. What would cost the other $16?

I can haul 28 bales, and get 5 mpg doing it. This would be $2.80 a bale for gas, but wear and tear on the truck and trailer about doubles this.

 

[backhoeboogie]

If I could buy $15 hay, and it had any quality at all, I'd buy all I could afford. Most ot the hay trucked in here during drought is pure junk.

You can't fertilize for $15 a bale. Fuel for the tractor and net will cost you, what $6 a bale?

 

[ohiosteve]

There is definitely no $15 a roll hay around here. I took a load of above average grass/alfalfa small bales to the local hay auction 2 wks ago and got $450/ton ! Came out to $11.25 a bale if I did the math right ( I did it about 10 times). Granted I'm not right in the head but I love making hay, especially this year. I also only do about 30 acres which is alot less stressful than having big acreage to deal with.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

I have been kicking around the idea of pasturing my hayfields and buying hay and was wondering if anyone else has gone through the same thing. going for $15, and it takes five of them to get a cow through an average winter. I would have to haul it Right now 4x4 rolls are around 50 miles each way, but I have a pretty good single axle truck and trailer to haul it on. Money wise I would come out way ahead with the increased numbers of cows I could run, but what I want to know is how aggravating is it trying to buy hay every year? Is it any more aggravating than trying to get hay up and work full time? Thanks for any input.

yall have had good rains,, the way these droughts are paying everyone a visit nowdays, that 15 dollars might double are triple next year.. just this spring my hay went up and down in value, just to produce , like the stockmarket.... and ill tell you, having my own equipment makes me feel more secure, than being at the mercy of others...

We are usually blessed (or cursed, depending how you look at it) with very wet summers. I live at 3,000 ft and it is very rare that we make it through a week without at least a couple of evening mountain thundershowers. I very rarely have any trouble growing hay; I just have trouble getting it up without it getting rained on, hence why hay is usually cheap here. The driest year we have had was the 2009, and I still averaged three 4x5 rolls to an acre on first cutting. 4x4 rolls were going for $40 that year, and that is the highest they have ever been in my lifetime.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

For years I've been doing it this way. The couple of times we did our own, it just wasn't worth the time and hassles. I found it to be far better to use the 'hay ground' as stockpiled grass, and adjust the number of head accordingly. The hay I bring in is better quality than what we could make here, thereby the cows getting better nutrition and pooping out better quality poo and "fertilizing" the fields.

The only times I've run into 'glitches' is when one of my regular suppliers finally quit, retired and moved away. Another time one of them lost his leases and got out of the business, and during the drought finding hay at a reasonable price was a bit of a challenge but was doable. And during the drought one of the others tripled his hay price and to this day (3 years later) his prices have remained at $60.00 a bale----the majority of his customers are now 'horse' people and backyard 'farmers'. I no longer purchase hay from him.

I have always tried to maintain 3 regular and reliable sources for my hay for various reasons and remain loyal to them as well....it will make a difference having an established relationship with these folks. I will, most of the time, purchase more than I need in order to keep a "stockpile" for the 'rough' times---I like to keep on hand enough hay to feed for an entire year, all 365 days if I had to, this way I know I have at least 2 winters worth at all times. It came in handy during the drought, I had what I needed for quite a while til it got low and went on the search for enough to get through to another spring (in addition to reducing my numbers by just over half). And managing for drought is a whole 'nother topic.

BUT I am a small producer, less than 50 head, and this is what I have found to work for me in my situation and set up.

Katherine

 

[HOSS]

In the spring I usually have a portion of my ground custom baled for me for the 1st cutting. I graze my other ground during this time to give the hay time to grow. My neighbor bales 4x6 bales and he charges me 15.00 per bale. I buy the rest of the hay I need from the same neighbor at 30.00 per bale which I think is a fair price right now. Usually I need more so after his 2nd cutting I will buy more and this hay will go in the barn last and get fed first during early winter. When the weather gets it's worst during January and February I feed the 1st cut hay for the added nutrition. It has worked well for me doing it this way. My cows never really get in a poor condition but stay pretty fat all winter.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I had a cattleman that I respect very much tell me yrs ago that 7 out of 10 yrs you could buy hay cheaper than you can raise it and you could run enough cows to extra that in the 3yrs that hay was higher it would still even out and you didn't have another piece of equipment to break down and ruin your hay and your day
and he was also a banker that ran the numbers on everything and yes his cows did have to pay their own way

The main thing is to buy your hay and build a good relationship with your hay producer so he knows you will be buying hay yr in and yr out
on the yrs when there is plenty of grass you may pay a few dollars extra for good hay than what others are selling it for but on the yrs when hay is short a good producer will usually make sure you get your hay at a good price may be a little more than other yrs but will be alot less than the jockeys are selling it for

 

[Workinonit Farm]

The main thing is to buy your hay and build a good relationship with your hay producer so he knows you will be buying hay yr in and yr out
on the yrs when there is plenty of grass you may pay a few dollars extra for good hay than what others are selling it for but on the yrs when hay is short a good producer will usually make sure you get your hay at a good price may be a little more than other yrs but will be alot less than the jockeys are selling it for

:nod: :nod: :nod:

This has certainly been my experience.

Katherine

 

[1982vett]

sure that $15 hay is cheap.but by the time you add in your hauling your looking at $35 a bale give or take.

Assuming he can only haul 10 at a time. At a 100 mile round trip getting 10 miles a gallon and $4 fuel, that's $40 dollars a trip. That figures out to only $19 a bale. What would cost the other $16?

You're pretty optimistic you can find hay within a 50 mile radius....Feed stores around here were having it hauled in from 800 miles away last year so it all varies. So yeah, $35 dollar hay was costing $115.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Smartest thing I ever done was quiting.