to cut hay or graze cattle

[Anonymous]

I have 30 acres that has been previously used to cut hay on. i can get about 300 bales a year off this. my question is why not get about 30-45 steers or heifers and graze them on it this summer and sell when the grass season is over and just buy hay for the winter. i can fertilize and get someone to cut it for about $10 a bale. i bought hay this year for $15 dollars a bale. i can make more putting weight on these cattle using this ground to graze cattle. Does this make sense to you. thanks

 

[Campground Cattle]

Yea makes sense I just think your numbers might be on the high side, depending where your located. It takes an acre per cow where were at and thats a kick butt pasture. More like two acres per cow, and in some ares even more. I can turn 30 head on a 18 acre hay field in a couple of days it's pretty well mowed.

 

[dun]

I concur with your figures. Most times you can buy very good quality hay for less then it costs to cut and bale it yourself. If you figure the cost of fertilizer, the hours, custom baling costs it would cost us about $2 per bale (5x5 round) more then I can buy it for. The idea of having the cattle do the haying has another benfit in as much that the fertilizer, except for a very small amount thats lost in reapplication by the cow, remains on the land that the product was grown on.
That being said, we hay about 60 acres twice, only because we don;t want to get so far back into the cow business that would be required to keep the fields/pastures in a vegative state. This winter we only fed 10 bales, and most of that was when the grass was starting to grow but I didn't want them to graze it so short as to damage the growing points.

dun

Yea makes sense I just think your numbers might be on the high side, depending where your located. It takes an acre per cow where were at and thats a kick butt pasture. More like two acres per cow, and in some ares even more. I can turn 30 head on a 18 acre hay field in a couple of days it's pretty well mowed.

 

[Anonymous]

ten dollars a bale??!? phew...I'll keep on driving...... Everyone DID forgot how BIG your bale are...if they are 50lbs bale at ten dollars each.....goodbye!!!! If they were 500lbs bale...I'll buy!

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Usually you're money ahead to raise grass with cattle as a bi-product. Just don't overgraze, rotate pastures.

In Texas Panhandle, this past winter we were using about one 4x5' round bale per week for our seedstock Longhorns (about 16-18 animal units, 1000# basis--we have more than 16-18 animals however) plus bermudagrass pasture, along with 20% cubes for extra protein and special LH mineral tubs.

We put round bales out year around to supplement grass grazing; and, we rotate paddocks along with fertilizing and irrigating them.

 

[Tc]

YOU CAN NOT BUY HAY CHEAPER THAN DOING IT YOUR SELF.ARE YOU SAYING MEN RAISE HAY AN SELL IT CHEAPER THAN IT TOOK TO RAISE IT? IF I BOUGHT 1000 ,1200LB ROLLS AT 20$ ROLL,THATS 20,000 DOLLARS.TIMES THAT BY 10 YEARS THATS 200,OOO$$ I CAN BUY EQUIPMENT AN RAISE IT MYSELF A HELL OF A LOT CHEAPER THAN THAT.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tc

 

[Anonymous]

No you can't!

 

[WORANCH]

YOU CAN NOT BUY HAY CHEAPER THAN DOING IT YOUR SELF.ARE YOU SAYING MEN RAISE HAY AN SELL IT CHEAPER THAN IT TOOK TO RAISE IT? IF I BOUGHT 1000 ,1200LB ROLLS AT 20$ ROLL,THATS 20,000 DOLLARS.TIMES THAT BY 10 YEARS THATS 200,OOO$$ I CAN BUY EQUIPMENT AN RAISE IT MYSELF A HELL OF A LOT CHEAPER THAN THAT.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tc

if it takes 100 ac. to produce the hay , and you run 40 pairs . 40 calves x 500= 20000 .. you save labor, repairs, and cost of equipment . and fuel ............

 

[Tc]

I DONT NO WHAT YOUR TRYING TO SAY.BUT I CAN RAISE 10,000 ROLLS OF HAY MYSELF A LOT CHEAPER THA BUYING IT.~~~~~~~~~~~~Tc

 

[dun]

I think you need to pencil whip your numbers again. With the equipment investment, the only way to work the numbers is to do nothing but hay for the entire haying period in your area. That's usually about 5 months around here. If your labor is free and you don't have any equipment problems you can do it. The majority of us prefer doing other things then spending 12 hours a day 7 days a week for 5 months on or under a tractor.
Of course that's if you can find enough customers for custom baling to keep you busy.

dun

I DONT NO WHAT YOUR TRYING TO SAY.BUT I CAN RAISE 10,000 ROLLS OF HAY MYSELF A LOT CHEAPER THA BUYING IT.~~~~~~~~~~~~Tc

 

[WORANCH]

I DONT NO WHAT YOUR TRYING TO SAY.BUT I CAN RAISE 10,000 ROLLS OF HAY MYSELF A LOT CHEAPER THA BUYING IT.~~~~~~~~~~~~Tc

you need to put a pencil to it again ..............

 

[dun]

It takes some awfully spectacular 5X6 bales of alfalfa to sell for 20 bucks a bale. Top grass/clover goes for about 13 bucks a bale. In years with a bumper crop of hay the top grass stuff is going for around 11. Most folks that have hay left from last year and it's going real cheap. I've been selling orchard grass/clover 5X5 for 8 bucks

dun

 

[A. delaGarza]

I have 30 acres that has been previously used to cut hay on. i can get about 300 bales a year off this. my question is why not get about 30-45 steers or heifers and graze them on it this summer and sell when the grass season is over and just buy hay for the winter. i can fertilize and get someone to cut it for about $10 a bale. i bought hay this year for $15 dollars a bale. i can make more putting weight on these cattle using this ground to graze cattle. Does this make sense to you. thanks

depends on the type of grass you have, maybe you could grass them from May to July and let your pasture to rest and you will have some hay to Bale in late Autumn

 

[Tc]

ive been selling 1200lb uncoverd mixed grass clovr rolls for15$ a roll. coverd goes for 20 to 25.and hay is plentyful this year.an thats not dileverd.5$ roll for dillivery.if a man can buy it cheaper then raising it.,how do you explain the multybillion $$ hay equipment ind.no one would be raising it .~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tc

 

[Anonymous]

How do you explain the multibillion dollar a year cattle industry?

 

[lazyhill]

I obviously live in a very expensive area. Good coastal bermuda hay that has been fertilized will go for $20-$25 per roll (+/- 1500 lbs). On my own fields that I use for hay, it costs me close to $15 to do it myself by the time you figure fertilizer, cutting, swathing, and baling.

 

[Anonymous]

Top quality coastal goes for $4 square and $25-$35 for a round. But you must irrigate to get the good stuff.

 

[Anonymous]

ten dollars a bale??!? phew...I'll keep on driving...... Everyone DID forgot how BIG your bale are...if they are 50lbs bale at ten dollars each.....goodbye!!!! If they were 500lbs bale...I'll buy!

Oregonian, Read the posts before you make stupid comments. It only took me a few posts to learn that lesson, whats your excuse he said that they were 5x5 bales. highly doubt that is only a fifty pound bale.

 

[Randyman]

ten dollars a bale??!? phew...I'll keep on driving...... Everyone DID forgot how BIG your bale are...if they are 50lbs bale at ten dollars each.....goodbye!!!! If they were 500lbs bale...I'll buy!

Oregonian, Read the posts before you make stupid comments. It only took me a few posts to learn that lesson, whats your excuse he said that they were 5x5 bales. highly doubt that is only a fifty pound bale.

I made this post, forgot to sign in. wouldn't want Oregonian to be searching for the one who calls him.

 

[TXBobcat]

I obviously live in a very expensive area. Good coastal bermuda hay that has been fertilized will go for $20-$25 per roll (+/- 1500 lbs). On my own fields that I use for hay, it costs me close to $15 to do it myself by the time you figure fertilizer, cutting, swathing, and baling.

Close to the same here. I paid $30 a roll (4x5) for coastal bermuda hay about 2 months ago. Can get Sudan a little cheaper, but I prefer the coastal. Square bales will go anywhere from $3 to $5 dollars, depending on quality and size (60-90 lbs).