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Making hay

Started by tyb525, February 10, 2011, 07:43:51 PM

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tyb525

I've been tossing around the idea of making hay. We have about 8 acres of pasture/grass field.

I don't know much about it, besides the equipment needed. Is it practical to find a used baler and rake? Can a bush hog be used to mow it or do I need to use a sickle mower (we have both).

Can you make hay from regular field grass with clover, etc, or does it have to be alfalfa or something else?

I'm interested in whether or not this is practical. We don't have a use for it currently so I'm planning on selling it, however we do use straw for our chickens so the equipment could be used for that also.
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jim king

Maybe not good for hay but it would make bedding.

Coon

Regular ol field grass mixture is still good feed and/or bedding for livestock.  It may not fetch a premium price but someone will buy it.  Use a sickle mower for cutting it.  A brushhog will chop it up too fine for the baler in alot of cases.  8 acres may not justify spending too much on equipment but is still doable. 
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fishpharmer

Ty,
There's lots of folks on here that make hay, including myself.  You may consider letting someone else cut, rake and bale the hay on halves or some agreeable percentage.  Then you wouldn't be out much capital and could feel out the local market demand for your type hay.  Horse hay is where the money is, from what I hear.  I make some for my horses but they never pay me a dime.

Or you may find it more profitable to lease the hay ground  to another farmer altogether. 

Hope that helps.
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isawlogs


To find used equipment for sale is not hard at all , craiglist or simular sites have some. As far as the size you would need, it would be fairly cheap, a small haybine, a tedder/rake and a baler, ya got the tractor some kind of trailer or pick-up to get them off the field. On a eight acre field ya aint going to be making a mountain of hay but it is fun on a small scale  ;)  You can if you want over seed it ( seed it with out tilling ) I have done it with some fairly good results.
  You should be able to get a few cuts off of it and you should not have any trouble to sell it if you are able to do it and it not get rained on , have it good and dry , you could sell it for horses  :)
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

tyb525

There's a buyer nearby, Hodups, they're a huge buyer and seller of hay and straw. I'm not looking to get rich, just more of a hobby that get's me a little and pays for the equipment, sort of like the sawmill, except I'm sure that currently is and will be more profitable. I'd be looking at the smallest practical equipment, used of course.

We already rent out the pastures to a friend to keep his cows in most of the summer, but they've never ate it down except in a drought, and we usually end up mowing a few times a year anyways.

I knew there were lot's of hayers on here, that's why I asked. :)
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

Jasperfield

Unless you get your field in tip-top condition, I don't see that you would ever come out with a profit.

By the time you: spray for broadleaf, seed (or topseed), fertilize, aquire, house, fuel & maintain implements, store & market the hay, and pay taxes on equipment and land you're not going to have much of a profit, if any. Not on eight acres.

Hay is a low-value crop. Probably the lowest of all unless you're growing specialty grasses.

On the other hand, if it's something you'd like to do, it certainly could be rewarding, if not profitable.

Busy Beaver Lumber

Ty

What about Pumpkins? A friend of mine in Churubusco Indiana has about 6 acres of land right on a main road and he grows pumpkins on and then lets people come and pick their own during harvest season. Has been doing this for about 20 years and does quite well with it. He even sells some of the pumpkins to surrounding grocery stores and mom and pop convinience stores.

You might even be able to work a deal with some of the local elementary schools to have them take a field trip to your farm and pick their own pumpkins for $2 to $3 a child and toss in a free glass of Hi C or soda and a snack with the deal to make it more appealing. Could even give them a demonstration of a sawmill in operation and maybe even offer a hay ride if the price is right
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Weekend_Sawyer


And it would keep your butt in the tractor seat instead of infront of the tv.  ;D ;D
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isawlogs


If his butt was not in front of the puter, we would not be having so much fun with him !!!! ;D
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

tyb525

Heck, I never watch TV anyways since I started sawing. I don't miss it at all, I'd much much rather be doing something outside, making a profit from it is just a bonus.

Course I wasn't too serious about hay making yet, just wanted to get some opinions. I may or may not pursue it, depending on whether I find some good cheap equipment. I'm not looking to get rich, just have some fun and make some pocket change maybe.

Fred, that's a good idea, I already have a plow and disc to prepare the ground with. I think I know of a half acre out by the woods that might be just perfect :)

There's a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group nearby that recently bought some lumber from me for the birdhouses they make, and has expressed much interest in buying more from me, and having logs sawn for fences and such. I'd be they would be interested in some pumpkins too, I don't remember them having them last year.
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

paul case

i dont know about yields in indiana, but we make a lot of mixed grass hay here in ok. it will produce if fertilized and ya get good rains. sickle mower is the way to go if you have one. a rake and small square baler could easily be had. i like wire tie. sometimes string tie balers can be a real booger to get to tie if ypu dont know what you are doing. if you happen to make some hay that can be ok for horses it will pay well. we can get $4 a bale for it. if our grass grows well we get about 2 ton.if you get 3000# of hay to the acre it would be 50  60# bales. 8 acres could make 400 bales or more.
it may not seem like much but i have found that neighbors can smell your hay and if you have a baler they will want you to come make hay for them too. that can be a great way to pay for a square baler.
the first baler i owned i bought out of the paper for $200. it baled over 15000 bales for me and probably 5000 bales for neighbors. back then i was getting $.60 a bale to bale. sold it in 2000 for $650.
it is real work but you are young enough that hard work shouldnt scare you off. i paid for half of my cow herd by selling square bales.  pc
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
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pc

WH_Conley

Paul, if you had a small square baler here and mentioned baling other peoples hay, they would be shooting at you. We did the same about 30 years ago, since then the small mom & pops farm has grown up in weeds, and scrub trees.
Bill

isawlogs

 With all the hobby farms coming up on smaller acrage , the small square bale is climbing in popularity here. Not every one likes those  big round or big square hay bales.
Paul if it where not for a haybine here , we would not be making much hay , with the sickle bar it just don't dry well enough. Have to put the tedder to it too.
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

paul case

we use a disc mower. it cuts 10'2' at 7 mph where we can stay on the tractor at that speed. with that piece of equipment we could easily mow ty's 8 acres in 75 minutes. pc
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

sandhills

I agree with Pauls original post, only thing is be patient on finding the baler, if you look around long enough and maybe even cover a few miles you should find a good deal.  That little hydro international I've seen in your pictures should make a great mowing/raking/baling tractor, wish I had it :).  He was also right in the respect that anyone near you that owns a horse, or any small number of cattle or other livestock will suddenly become your new best friends, especially if you're willing to help haul their hay in :D

AvT

If you are 19 I say go for it.  Spend a thousand on a little 9' new holland haybind and 1000 on a baler and start haying.  I have been making a few hundred big round bales a year for the last 25 years or so.  I report a farm loss every year but I still do it.  The tax break seems to make it worthwhile even though my accountants says It doesn't make sense.  Once you figure it out and decide you like it you may be able to find some neighbors that will let you make hay on their land and you never know, maybe when you are my age you will be the biggest custom hay maker/land owner in the USA.
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DanG

I say go for it, Ty, but do it wisely.  That is, don't be in a big hurry to get the equipment, and wait for the right deal to come along.  If you're running cows on it, you won't get real high quality hay, but you can sell what you get as "construction hay".  They use it for silt barriers on road building projects and such, and they don't care about quality at all.  You already have the sickle bar and the tractor, so all you would need is a rake and a baler.  We call that "trash baling" down here, and it is a good way to get rid of the residue from mowing weeds and low-quality grass.  What makes that nice for guys like you who are just starting out, is that you don't need fancy equipment like haybines and tedders.  It doesn't matter if the hay gets moldy or is rained on before it is baled.  You might expect to cut it twice in a season(you have cows on it), and get 30-40 bales per acre each time.  Say you get 600 bales total, and sell them for $2.50 each as construction hay, you gross $1500, you should be able to break even in the first year.  After that, you could put most of it in your pocket, along with the muscle and business experience you will have gained. ;)
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isawlogs

or .. invest it in a lucrative business we can come up for you .  ;D
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

CX3

My opinion would be to cut and rake the hay yourself and let someone else bale it.  A sickle mower can be had for little to nothing and are extremely easy to work on.  Hay rakes are nearly impossible to tear up, and you can find an old side delivery rake for cheap too.  Now balers are a different story, and with only 8 acres to put up, one bad bust on a baler shuts the whole idea down pretty quick.  I have always let someone else have the baler headaches, its way cheaper in the long run I have found out.  Also if you are square baling, you wont want to jump off the baler and jump on a hay wagon.  Thats no fun.  A good crew can have it in the barn in just about the same time as the last bale is made. 

I wouldnt say you couldnt make a profit either.  A guy that can hunt a good deal on equipment, fix his own break downs, and market his product can always make a buck somehow.
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Woodwalker

I got started making my own hay because I couldn't always get a custom baler when I needed one. That was the start. Making hay has developed into something like akin to a fetish for me.
It all starts when you start buying tractors, cutter bars, tedders, rakes, round balers and/or square balers. You can't leave all that stuff outside in the weather so don't forget about barns and equipment sheds. You have to worry over fuel and fertilize prices, rain and drought. You'll study weather reports, improved grasses, repair manuals, insects and weed identification guides.  Spray rigs and night school for a pesticide license. You'll lease additional land, maybe buy some. Then, that new ground has to be fenced, cleared, prepared and planted. I time my vacation around cutting times, get a lot of quality time with myself sitting on a tractor seat, drag a gooseneck around burning up a good bit of high priced fuel hauling equipment and hay from one place to another. You stack the hay in the barn hoping it's cured. Then have to drag it out when it's raining and freezing to feed to some bunch of dumb heifers that may trample you in the mud to get at the hay.
Making hay cuts into your sawmill time.
Study up on the equipment, pick your deals and don't plan on getting rich off of it.  
Bottom line, go for it.
Just cause your head's pointed, don't mean you are sharp.

Norm

I'd do just as CX3 suggested Ty. Around here forage is in demand and mixed grass bales bring pretty good money considering what you have invested. Yep it's a lot of effort but beats going to the gym to work out.

Premium alfalfa small bales brought $6 per at the local hay auction last week. Mixed grass brought $5. If you have a place to store it prices are really good this time of year until the first crops start coming in 1st of May.

Mark K

Keep an eye out for auctions in the area. Good place to pick up used equipment. I bale around 45 acres a year at my place to feed my heifers. We sold our dairy off last spring and I kept raising animals at my place. I don't have anything fancy here. Most of my equipment is forty years old or older. I have two tractors, a farmall m and bn, that I restored and enjoy running. Start scouting around and you will find some decent equipment. If your mechanically inclined there is some bargains out there.
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Ernie

Years ago, when our kids were small, we used to make our own hay.  We had an old disc mower, an old tedder  and a very old small square baler.  before the days of round bales.  We made bales that were about a third the normal length because the kids loved to help with anything on the farm and there was no way they could heft around a standard bale when it came to picking them up, stacking them and feed out.  They were a real pig to stack but we all had a great time which they remember fondly to this day.
A very wise man once told me . Grand children are great, we should have had them first

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