True Grit Farms":ej04gwnx said:
But I've always asked why to everything, and have never been afraid to try something that I feel might work. Our hay, fertilizer, feed and meds are averaging around $150 per cow now, and 5 years ago it was over twice as much per cow.
sstterry":ej04gwnx said:
How much hay do you have to feed down there? I am sure it is not as much as we do.
True Grit Farms":ej04gwnx said:
I figure 4k pounds of hay per cow,
When I give an estimate of cost per cow, I include everything...feed, supplies, repairs, insurance, vaccinations, real estate taxes and or land rent etc. When I heard your estimate of $150 per cow it seemed a bit hard to believe, but I thought perhaps your place in Georgia had so much grass that you never had to buy hay. It still seemed rather low, but you were probably not including many of the fixed costs I include. Then you mentioned feeding 2 tons of hay per cow and I really began to wonder about those numbers.
I don't fertilize at all and grain is too expensive to be at all practical in this area. It takes at least 10+ acres here to support a cow, and summer droughts followed by cold winter rains do mean we must supplement the grass with hay for as many as 5 months out of the year. Looking at my records for the last few years, we have been feeding about 3300 pounds (1.67 tons) per bred cow through the winter. That includes about 1 ton of hay per cow and 2/3 tons of ryegrass screening pellets. They are a cheap by product of the grass seed industry and are usually cheaper than hay. We apparently feed less than you do, but our costs are much higher. I imagine our hay is more expensive than yours, but I find it really hard to believe you can buy 2 tons of hay, vaccinations, fertilizer and the fuel and equipment to apply it for $150 per cow.
I will assume you are not including supplies, depreciation, fuel, equipment repairs and many of the other costs associated with this business in that $150, but even just the hay and routine vaccinations would cost me more than that in this area.
What does hay sell for by the ton in Georgia?