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Implement Alley Discussion Forum

cost of making hay

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jc mini

07-18-2006 22:58:55




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this should be good i have asked alot of farmers
this and cant get a straight answer how much does it cost to bale hay per round bale




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kyhayman

07-21-2006 22:04:14




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 Re: cost of making hay in reply to jc mini, 07-18-2006 22:58:55  
Last time I looked at the state whole farm analysis the range was $9.00-$110 per round bale. Almost impossible to figure generically without knowing specifics like land cost, depreciation, fuel consumption per hour, etc.

For me, my variable costs last year ran about $9.00 per round bale plus fertilizer costs for grass hay. Fixed costs are about equal to that. I can buy hay as just as cheap. Difference is, trucking it in, and quality.

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farma

07-20-2006 17:37:26




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 Re: cost of making hay in reply to jc mini, 07-18-2006 22:58:55  
My grandfather always said "you have to sell a bale of hay for the same price as a gallon of gas" small square bales of course.
I spread chicken manure on one of my fields this spring, they deliver it for free so all I have is gas and labor to spread it. I increased my yield by approx 20 % for a small layout of $200 in gas and a few days of stink on the tractor.
I am moving all the hay I want at $3 per bale.

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Jerry/MT

07-20-2006 10:42:59




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 Re: cost of making hay in reply to jc mini, 07-18-2006 22:58:55  
I just had someone custom cut rake and bale my grass hay because the guy that was going to it on shares had a major breakdown and couldn't get to it. It cost me $22.25/per bale and the bales averaged 1320 pounds. That works out to $33.71/T.
The folks that custom cut for us charged $20/ per acre to cut, $5/acre to rake and $10/ bale to bale it up.



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Errin OH

07-19-2006 07:11:24




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 Re: cost of making hay in reply to jc mini, 07-18-2006 22:58:55  
It cost everyone something different. Dude A may be baling orchard grass where as dude B is baling alfalfa (seed and fert cost added in). Equipment cost is another consideration. Dude A may have 50 year old cheap stuff (like me) that works good and two son that work for peanuts where as Dude B has fairly new, expensive, stuff and a full time hired hand or two.

However it is fairly easy to figure. Keep track of fuel, twine and any additional labor (the profit is your labor). Then take the value of the equipment, divide by the number of operations (ie grain crops vs hay, I use hours). Calculate deprecation for each piece of equipment involved (from planting to harvest) and divide by number of bales made (Yield, that�s a whole another story).

In my case it works out to about .87 cents a bale ($38 ton) for grass hay (0 planting, some spraying) and about $1.24 ($55 ton) for alfalfa (seed, fert and xx spraying). On an average yield, 45lb small squares, if I don't require any extra help to get it done. Which leaves me around $40 a ton for my labors. Bale price is based on tonnage price (grass hay at 75 ton, 1.70 bale, alfalfa at 95 ton, 2.15 bale).

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Tim(nj)

07-20-2006 10:13:03




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 Re: cost of making hay in reply to Errin OH, 07-19-2006 07:11:24  
Wow. If hay prices were that low here, I"d be letting everything go to brush. $80 a ton for stored-inside round bales of 1st cutting orchardgrass. Small squares of alfalfa is $200 a ton, timothy about $160 a ton.



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Allan In NE

07-19-2006 05:44:59




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 Re: cost of making hay in reply to jc mini, 07-18-2006 22:58:55  
$30 to $40 a ton.

Allan



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Michael Soldan

07-19-2006 05:26:00




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 Re: cost of making hay in reply to jc mini, 07-18-2006 22:58:55  
J.C. I couldn't begin to cost it out. I spread 17-17-17 on my hay fields at about 200lbs to the acre. If I didn't have cattle the land I have in hay and pasture would likely be rented out at $150 an acre,so $16 an acre for fertilizer on $150 an acre land is$166, plan 100 small squares per acre so I have $1.66 a bale before fuel, twine, equipment investment and maintenance, labour and repairs...its probably best I don't have an accurate figure or I might become depressed and sell out...I know there is a big difference between buyer and seller in how they see the value of a bale of hay. I bought some big rounds @$30 each and for our area I thought it was enough, some years when we have had lots of spring rain and the hay is plentifull the price usually sags a bit.I have sold some unneeded hay for $2 a small square,I know that was a dumb move but I had to get rid of it. I would want$3.50 a small square and I'm sure thats less than the cost of production. I hear talk of $7-8 a small suare in some parts of the world, I'd have to sell my cattle if I had to pay that. Hay is a hard commodity to figure out the price of, like I said Its probably better that I don't know...Mike in Exeter Ontario..did I mention taxes, about $24 an acre or .24cents a small square

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Michael Soldan

07-19-2006 05:23:45




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 Re: cost of making hay in reply to jc mini, 07-18-2006 22:58:55  
J.C. I couldn't begin to cost it out. I spread 17-17-17 on my hay fields at about 200lbs to the acre. If I didn't have cattle the land I have in hay and pasture would likely be rented out at $150 an acre,so $16 an acre for fertilizer on $150 an acre land is$166, plan 100 small squares per acre so I have $1.66 a bale before fuel, twine, equipment investment and maintenance, labour and repairs...its probably best I don't have an accurate figure or I might become depressed and sell out...I know there is a big difference between buyer and seller in how they see the value of a bale of hay. I bought some big rounds @$30 each and for our area I thought it was enough, some years when we have had lots of spring rain and the hay is plentifull the price usually sags a bit.I have sold some unneeded hay for $2 a small square,I know that was a dumb move but I had to get rid of it. I would want$3.50 a small square and I'm sure thats less than the cost of production. I hear talk of $7-8 a small suare in some parts of the world, I'd have to sell my cattle if I had to pay that. Hay is a hard commodity to figure out the price of, like I said Its probably better that I don't know...Mike in Exeter Ontario

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hayray

07-19-2006 04:37:23




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 Re: cost of making hay in reply to jc mini, 07-18-2006 22:58:55  
for me it cost about $18 to produce a 4 by 4 round bale. That includes all production cost such as equipment purchases, labor, repairs, fuel, rent, planting cost and more. - And yes, most guys sell hay way too cheap and in most cases below cost.



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Ken Macfarlane

07-19-2006 04:48:24




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 Re: cost of making hay in reply to hayray, 07-19-2006 04:37:23  
Last year I lost about a dollar on every square bale I sold and still had complaints about the price being too high. Almost lost a friend over charging 2.75 a bale.



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RC farms

07-19-2006 05:49:31




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 Re: cost of making hay in reply to Ken Macfarlane, 07-19-2006 04:48:24  
I don't farm hay or have cattle or horses to feed. I buy it for mulching/bedding my vegtable crops. Have to pay $2.75 - $3.00 for pararie hay and 4.00 for broam. I think that's a fair price. I want to see they guy that farms it get his money back with a profit.



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RC farms

07-19-2006 05:48:47




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 Re: cost of making hay in reply to Ken Macfarlane, 07-19-2006 04:48:24  
I don't farm hay or have cattle or horses to feed. I buy it for mulching/bedding my vegtable crops. Have to pay $2.75 - $3.00 for pararie hay and 4.00 for broam. I think that's a fair price. I want to see they guy that farms it get his money back with a profit.



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