In defense of the farmer that sold you the hay, it is extremely
difficult to get an accurate weight on round bales of hay. In the same
field, I have found as much as 300 lbs difference between hay bales.
While there are some out there who are taking full advantage of the
plight of farmers and ranchers in the drought areas, most of us hay
producers are trying to produce a good product and make a fair profit.
However, in order to supply someone from another area or state we have
to have either lost a past client or make extra cuttings we would not
have made in previous years. It is said that the second cutting of
prairie hay will only take away from the next years cutting. I have
utilized chicken litter fertilizer on our pastures. This natural
fertilizer appears to be able to build up the soil and it has allowed my
pastures to produce 2 cuttings of hay here in central Oklahoma in the
middle of this drought. However, if you do the math, it cost $65/acre 2
years ago when we applied the litter. It costs $38/bale to cut windrow
and bale a 4x5 round bale weighing approx 1200 lbs. That is in the
field. Most truckers will haul for about $5.50 per loaded mile for a 30
to 36 bale load. It takes about an hour to load a truck. The costs I
have quoted do not account for wear and tear on the equipment. Only
fuel and labor. I pay from $10 to $12.50 per hour for labor.
I sent some hay to the Western part of the state for $55/bale. It was
ear my true break even cost. If the hay price would stabilize at $50
to $60 per bale, then there would be a surplus held over to provide
buyers when weather problems occur. However when it is sold at $30 or
less, many of us producers cannot stay in business. We only bale enough
to take care of our own stock. If the horse market had not gone down
the toilet here in Oklahoma, folks in the drought areas would be much
worse off. I had 250 bales left from last year due to a horse client
going out of business. Earlier this year I begged for buyers, but
everyone waited until the last minute. I would love to sell my hay from
the field, and not have to store it until winter. I have to be
concerned with fire, tornadoes, and have to move it twice and then
deliver it, to only be beat down on my price again at delivery.
I have baled horse quality hay for the last 10 years. I have a large
client list and have had to buy hay to be able to feed my own animals in
order to provide my clients with hay that I had baled and could
guarantee what was in the bale. I bought equipment last year to be
able to bale small bales and deliver them in 100 bale lots to horse
clients. As I said the horse market went down the toilet due to the
economy. I had another horse client who decided to buy hay from their
neighbor instead of me because the neighbor would sell for $2 a round
bale less!!! I had torn up my equipment on their rough fields and even
found and hauled a newer tractor to them for free when their own
tractor fell apart.
If the hay buyers would get their money together and buy when the hay is
being baled, and then provide themselves some means of storage and
handling, then they would be in a much better situation. Also the
producer could depend upon a buyer for his product. Instead, I hear
that it is just too much money to buy hay in the summer, but they can
pay $10/bale more in the winter. There are a lot of CRP fields that are
being baled here in Oklahoma and it is being sent out of state. This
has a lot of old growth in it, and it will only be good as a filler,
supplement will have to be provided, as this is only roughage. The
weeds are probably the best thing in the hay. I had a neighbor buy some
for $92 dollars a 5x6 bale delivered 40 miles, and a 7 bale lot.
However, these bales weigh no more than my 4x5 bales. The hay is dried
out and bleached, it is just a filler. The light bales you bought may
very well be from CRP ground.
I might also add that the development and urban sprawl makes finding hay
fields a problem. We have these large fields of grass here just going
to waste because the owners would rather mow it 4 times a summer and pay
$75/hr to have it mowed than allow someone to get hay from it at no
cost... Go figure.
I know this rambles, but I thought you should get the perspective from a
hay producer. I must say that I will not sell hay to anyone that I
would not feed to my own animals.
Cecil in OKla
On 10/24/2011 8:18 AM, Crystal Wolf wrote:
Carol, Texas has no hay in our area either so hay is being purchased
from out of state. Of course they are mostly large round bales and
some large square bales. We have been feeding hay since the first
week of July because our pastures dried up. My husband searches on a
web site called Hay Exchange. Beware though of what you buy. He got
taken on one load, because they bales were over 200 lbs lighter than
what he was told so he is not happy with that load. You have to buy
the entire load but maybe you can share a load with another local farmer.
Cathy Mayton
LeapN Lambs
_______________________________________________
This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list
Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
_______________________________________________
This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list
Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
