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Implement Alley Discussion Forum

How much hay ground do you have?

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Joe VA

07-21-2004 13:36:13




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I see alot of good post on this site. I want to know much hay ground you do or can do by yourself? Maybe with the help of one other person. Can you turn a buck? Thanks in advance for your input.




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Del

07-22-2004 17:24:34




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 Re: How much hay ground do you have? in reply to Joe VA, 07-21-2004 13:36:13  
My son(31years old) and I handle between 125 and 150 acres along with 140 acres of soybeans, 35 acres of silage corn, 35 to 40 acres of speltz and wheat. We run 50 to 100 plus beef cattle trying to keep the brood cow herd around 40 head. We both work shift work and are off through the week. He works three days then off three days where my days off vary. He can get a lot done on his three days off if I happen to be working those days. We are keeping our heads above water and buying more ground as we go along, but if money was what we were after we'd both be better off flipping burgers on our days off.

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David in MD

07-22-2004 07:19:31




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 Re: How much hay ground do you have? in reply to Joe VA, 07-21-2004 13:36:13  
I'd have to agree w/ Kyhayman that the weather is my most limiting factor. I've started thinking about how many bales I can do per day and how long of a day I can expect rather than how many acres. For me mowing, tedding, and raking are not limiting. Baling and picking up are my limiting operations. I have a 2 person system with one baling and another picking up w/ a NH bale wagon. In a long day starting at 10 am and ending at 8 pm such as you'd get with straw I can easily do 1400 bales. A shorter day starting at 1 or 2 pm and going to 8:30 pm with hay I can do 800 bales. If I don't have any help I try to keep it to 500 bales or under. I decide how many acres to cut based on how many bales per acre I anticipate. I expect to yield 200-250 bales of alfalfa/grass per acre per year at around $3 per bale for a gross of $600 -$750 per acre. This is more than corn or beans in my area but much more work. According to my accountant I loose money every year but that takes into account interest and taxes that I'd pay on the property anyway even if I didn't farm it. I do 30 acres of hay, 10 acres of small grains for straw (grain is a by product), 5 acres of corn for feed, and several acres of vegetables but still have to keep my day job to pay the bills. If you add up my gross you'll see it would be a mediocre salary even at 100% profit which it isn't.

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Joe VA

07-22-2004 11:01:34




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 Re: Re: How much hay ground do you have? in reply to David in MD, 07-22-2004 07:19:31  
David, I'm located in northern Virginia, what part of Maryland are you in? David, send me a e-mail if you can. I would like to talk to you about your balewagon setup. Thanks!



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David in MD

07-22-2004 14:28:56




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 Re: Re: Re: How much hay ground do you have? in reply to Joe VA, 07-22-2004 11:01:34  
Can't seem to email you but I'm in Northeastern MD, Cecil County. I have a good hay market due to hobby and race horses in the area. My customers are mostly hobby horses as large farms want a larger quantity and higher quality than I can consistently produce and they want delivery. I would think N. VA would be even a better market. On my farm or adjacent farm I can pick up and stack 3-4 (55 bale) loads an hour. I'm limited to smallest bale wagon due to existing shed. Larger bale wagons would be more efficient as much of the time is spent running to shed to unload. A pull type bale wagon would be real slow if I had to run down the roads too far. My wife or neighbor kid runs the baler but I'm the only one who runs the wagon.

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kyhayman

07-21-2004 19:41:35




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 Re: How much hay ground do you have? in reply to Joe VA, 07-21-2004 13:36:13  
The weather is more limiting for me than anything else. Given a clear dry June, with just round bales, I could do 20 acres a day cut. It (takes 1 day to cut and 1 day to rake and bale it with a day cure between, to cut the next field). Weather rarely holds long enough. Squares, about half that.



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kyhayman

07-22-2004 08:10:04




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 Re: Re: How much hay ground do you have? in reply to kyhayman, 07-21-2004 19:41:35  
I reread your post and even though I gave you 'an' answer I didnt give you 'the' answer you asked for. Currently with 2 people (one an 80 year old 'retiree' and one with an of farm job) and duplicate sets of equipment for round baling plus one hired person between us we do 250 acres of grass/ grass-legume hay for round bales or round baled silage, 80 acres of alfalfa/grass hay (1st cut round bale silage) later cuts in small squares. 20-30 acres of small grain (wheat/rye/or triticale) r.b. silage double crop to soybean r.b. silage (as an alfalfa rotation), and 30 acres of timothy in small squares. All the round bales are either barn stored or wrapped for r.b. silage. In a year like this we are at absolute maximum capacity and did have to take half of our alfalfa as a 'combined' first and second cutting. In a normal year I could perhaps do 150% of this if I wanted to; maybe 200% if I wanted to go back to 20 hour days (like I did in my 20's when I was trying to pay off the farm). In reality, I plan to cut down again next year. I've been doing this since my early teens and am in my late 30's now. We run a hundred cow calf pairs and board some horses (300 acres of pasture to mow and tend).

Trying to do everything takes a toll on the body (2 back operations, a knee o.h., and a hand o.h. to date). When every dime counted we would keep 4 people on the payroll and try to do a lot of custom work too.

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Dave H (MI)

07-21-2004 19:29:06




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 Re: How much hay ground do you have? in reply to Joe VA, 07-21-2004 13:36:13  
Depends on your equipment. I have pretty basic square baling equipment. I can bale and hand load about 10 acres in a day. Takes 3-4 days total from cut to finish. Now let me be clear.
I said I CAN do it and HAVE done it, but I prefer having help. Baling directly on to a wagon is faster. If you have a thrower and matching wagons I suspect you can do better. If you have stacking equipment etc or do round bales....

It depends on your equipment. If this blasted weather keeps up, I'll be bailing cattails next season.

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txblu

07-22-2004 05:57:42




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 Re: Re: How much hay ground do you have? in reply to Dave H (MI), 07-21-2004 19:29:06  
Twas baling rice this spring. Has turned to cactus which is the norm for this time of year.

Mark



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