# Help with pricing



## texas13farm (May 22, 2017)

Hi! 
I have no idea what I'm doing and would like some help, please.

I have about 20-30 acres of land that had been growing some nice hay. The type it's growing, I honestly couldn't tell you. I've had offhand suggestions from others that it might be Johnson or Coastal. I have no idea on how to tell. I've recently received an offer from someone who is obviously in the hay business. He just left his note on my gate, stating he was interested in cutting it, baling it and buying it from us. He mentioned that they would be round bales but probably smaller than what we normally see in our area. He stated that with the piece of land we had, he'd get about 200 rolls and was willing to pay $3 a roll.

Now, I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. I'm aware that I don't have any knowledge in this area. But if it's a source of income, I'm eager to learn the trade. Basically, I don't want to be taken advantage of, so is this a good price scheme?

I'm aware that a lot needs to be taken into consideration. If you can guide me to how I can come to a good price or if this is a good price, please let me know.

Any info and help is greatly appreciated.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Well if you don't feed any cridders hay, would you bushhog it or let it stand ??

If you don't need the grass for feed it shouldn't matter what the other person is doing with it, he would be paying you to clean up your field..

Must be really small rolls to get 200 on 20-30 ac no matter what kind of grass is in the field...

If you have no use for what is cut then 3$ a roll is easy money.....


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

SCtrailrider said:


> Well if you don't feed any cridders hay, would you bushhog it or let it stand ??
> 
> If you don't need the grass for feed it shouldn't matter what the other person is doing with it, he would be paying you to clean up your field..
> 
> ...


200 4x5 on 20 acres would be maybe 3 tons per acre and that sounds almost on the low side the way some guys on here talk about the potential of Coastal. (Not that we're sure that's what it is)

And it doesn't matter if one has zero use for it, someone can still take advantage of them by lowballing. In this case, it certainly sounds like a figure designed to take advantage of an unsuspecting landowner.

....

If you want to maximize what you're paid, advertise it for rent. You'll have a few honest people set the market among all of the bottom feeders.


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## texas13farm (May 22, 2017)

Thank you. I had a feeling it was on the low end. I don't have any experience with this, so I was trying to make an informed decision.

For the record we do have animals but they hardly graze on this piece of land. I wasn't trying to control what this gentleman was doing with the hay. I'm simply trying to get a fair price for our hay.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

Not sure what the price should be, but be careful with the price because not only is he taking the hay, he's taking the nutrients with it. Unless replaced via fertilizer, which can be expensive, your field will become "mined out" and you'll have very poor ground over time.

Good luck!


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## Swv.farmer (Jan 2, 2016)

I don't know what kind of grass you have but it should be worth 5 Dollars a roll and him fertlize it.
That work's out to around 10 Dollars a roll with implements and equipment.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

$3 sounds more than fair for small rolls. Right now I wouldn't pay that.


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## clowers (Feb 11, 2011)

Lewis Ranch said:


> $3 sounds more than fair for small rolls. Right now I wouldn't pay that.


I wouldn't either Lewis Ranch


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Lewis Ranch said:


> $3 sounds more than fair for small rolls. Right now I wouldn't pay that.


I guess that's a regional thing. That's going to work out to $30 cash rent and every farmer in the county would be beating down the landowner's door if that happened around here.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Texas13,

Couple of things - 1st welcome to HT, where the knowledge is priceless (IMHO) and 2nd can you get the size of bales he would be baling?

At least in MY area there are folks baling 3x4, 4x4, 4x4.5 and 4x5 (let alone 4x6, 5x5 and 5x6). There could be some major pricing differences between a 3x4 and a 4x5 (for an example). Selling and buying by the ton, could be better, but maybe hard to do, but you could ask him what his average bale weighs, too.

My two pennies for today,

Larry


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

8350HiTech said:


> I guess that's a regional thing. That's going to work out to $30 cash rent and every farmer in the county would be beating down the landowner's door if that happened around here.


Around here $20 is high rent I have the majority of mine at free or $10 acre


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## paoutdoorsman (Apr 23, 2016)

8350HiTech said:


> I guess that's a regional thing. That's going to work out to $30 cash rent and every farmer in the county would be beating down the landowner's door if that happened around here.


Yeah, let me know if you find any HiTech ;-). I'll pay you a finders fee!


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

I would like to see a pic of the field, I will admit I don't think I have ever seen a field that would produce 3tons per ac in one cutting, not that it isn't out there mind you.... I'm just thinking that's 6 4x5 rolls tight per ac like I bale... just don't see that around here is all I'm thinking....


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

SCtrailrider said:


> I would like to see a pic of the field, I will admit I don't think I have ever seen a field that would produce 3tons per ac in one cutting, not that it isn't out there mind you.... I'm just thinking that's 6 4x5 rolls tight per ac like I bale... just don't see that around here is all I'm thinking....


That's why I ask the size of the 'small' round bales. If they are 4x4s, weighing saying 600# each and it's 30 acres. It works out to about 2 tons an acre (and if it hasn't been harvested for a couple of years and you set the rake low enough, you could harvest some of the previous years crop even). 

200 x 600 = 12,000 / 30 = 4,000# per acre if my fuzzy math is any good today. Just imagine the numbers with a 3x4 bale.

Larry


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Larry, that's kinda what I was thinking in my first post, my comments in that post was geared towards a small 3' roll, due to texas 13farm's post stating smaller than normal rolls... the figure of 200 rolls kinda sounds like some small rolls to me... and 3$ wasn't that low in my thinking, but I'm by no means a hay producer either...


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

A few adds on Craigslist of people wanting their field cut for hay custom guy to take all the hay as payment. I've had a couple of those jobs offered to me and after I look I politely say no thanks. It's a good way for the land owner to not have to pay to have it field chopped. The pieces I've looked at were rough, steep, wet, or had enough berries and small brush that a guy would want a cost plus damage to equipment agreement to feld chop it. A friend thinks that the land owner should pay for fertilizer, tillage, seed, etc and then my friend takes the hay for the cut, rake and bale. Friend sold his baler as he wasn't using it. If you choose to do it you might get an agreement foe $3 a roll, minimum of $500 or something. That would at least eliminate the oh, shucks, sorry there wasn't as much there as I thought. What the hay is worth, is all subjective.


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