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I dont see how anybody can buy new hay equipment at most any price, especially balers. I sell some $16 hay, and I sell $60 hay, depends on the hay. The $16 hay, roadsides, ditches, fence rows, broom sage, or wet and black, maybe even muddy. As long as it covers the fuel bill and the input costs better to bale it and feed it or make it go away somehow than deal with it in the next cutting. My competition keeps a lid on things for me, one reason I cut my bale size on dry hay back from 4x5 to 4x4. Same price as before, but I've got one guy who sells 500 rolls a year at $8 a piece. That wont pay my operating costs. I was going to get out of round bales to sell. At $15 a roll, just wasnt hardly making wages and go all small squares. Barn storage and wrapped wet hay kept me in it. Storing the same hay in the dry effectively doubled the price ($35 and up) and doubled the market (all the horse people now are interested). Wet hay was even better, selling 50% water, for double the money ($30), and more than doubling the yield. So, yes, I do still sell hay for $16 a roll, sure. But there is always a reason. This year it is probably b/c it has so many weeds in it and I want the seeds off the farm. At least this way the weed seed is gone and I didnt have to run the Bush Hog over the field. That and some of that from last year, that has mud on it went for that. (OMG, that was ugly, got 4" on it in the windrow, got the hay dried out but the ground was still wet and was about to rain again).
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