# Looking for some advice



## Steve27 (Aug 8, 2013)

I just moved to this area and the locals (cow/calf guys) don't seem to appreciate good hay. They bale up "hay" from the road ditch and sloughs and rarely reseed their tame hay. I have always made round bales and I bought a hesston 4590 this year to try my hand at the small square market. People around here don't seem to want to pay what it's worth. I am considering going to big squares so that I can market my hay a little further away to people who appreciate good hay. I am putting up 300 acres this year and am expanding to a total of 650 in the next couple years. The nice thing about my setup now is that it is not expensive equipment, if I switch to big squares I'd be looking at more expense BUT hopefully more income. What are your thoughts? Thanks for your input in advance.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Steve27 said:


> I just moved to this area and the locals (cow/calf guys) don't seem to appreciate good hay. They bale up "hay" from the road ditch and sloughs and rarely reseed their tame hay. I have always made round bales and I bought a hesston 4590 this year to try my hand at the small square market. People around here don't seem to want to pay what it's worth. I am considering going to big squares so that I can market my hay a little further away to people who appreciate good hay. I am putting up 300 acres this year and am expanding to a total of 650 in the next couple years. The nice thing about my setup now is that it is not expensive equipment, if I switch to big squares I'd be looking at more expense BUT hopefully more income. What are your thoughts? Thanks for your input in advance.


Good grief....how do you farm 300 acres with inexpensive equipment? What's inexpensive? I hear ya about the locals, not everyone cares about the quality of their hay. Nice to see this phenomena exists everywhere..... I considered big squares one time and big squares are never made in South Georgia, but for shipping......I wound up going with a bale bandit and turning 21 smalls into a big square. Much more marketable, especially good for logistics...


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

300 acres of small bales is a lot of little bales. Of course I don't know what kind of production one gets in Saskatchewan. I know here to keep up with 300 acres you need more then just one baler.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

My advice would be to find a market for the hay before going to large bales and depending on the income to make payments. I am not sure exactly how finding that market would be done.

Do you have hay auctions close?

In our area it has become more challenging to move grass hay, unless it is quality Bermuda for the horse market. I am not sure what has happened. It may be that cattle producers are growing their own or feeding cheap junk. Either of those scenarios is hard to compete with.

Marketing hay has become more and more important in the last 15 years.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

Depending on where you are at in Sask. You might have trouble selling any hay. I have guys around my area that say my hay is too much. They tell me they can get a bach haul on a truck and haul hay from Sask. Cheaper than buying my hay. Marketing hay is a big part of the job


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## Steve27 (Aug 8, 2013)

Thanks for the advice so far. I'll try to answer all the questions.

My "inexpensive" eqipment is as follows

Tractors - Deutz 130-06, JD 4230

Balers - JD 530, Hesston 4590

Rake - Frontier 10 Wheel V rake

Mower - NH 1431 13.5' discbine

Bale Wagon - NH 1049

Total Value - $48,000

I thought about a bale bandit, bale baron but I heard they are $75,000 (new of course)

As far as production goes here, most people here take 1 cut but a 2nd can be taken. This is my first year here but I understand 3000 lbs per acre is average. This year 99% of my hay has had rain of some sort on it so I have made very few small squares. From what I can see this year, the price for 1st cut round bales is between 3 and 5 cents/lb. You can be sure the cow/calf guys won't be buying 2nd cut. Hay should be at a premium this year as most guys are ripping their hay land up to go into grain.

One thing I like about big squares is any flatdeck can haul them, most round bale trucks are running empty one way. I used to drive truck for a living so I know truckers like to work for cheap. 

I don't know of any hay auctions in my area. There is a cattle auction 2 hours away that may sell a bit of hay but I have never been to it to know.

hog987 - where in central Ab are you from? I used to live there. What is hay selling for out there?


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

I live by a little town called Alix. Its 25 miles east of lacombr. The price of hay here right now is all over the place. Some are selling it cheap to get it off the feild others are selling at spring prices when it was high. Anywhere from 2.5-6 cents per pound. I agree hay should be at the high end for price cause too much hay land has been put into canola. The last few years there has been lots of hay from sask being sold for 2.5 cents per pound. So if your friendly with a trucker you might get some cheap hauling. I have not put a price on any of my hay yet. I figure let the cheap guys sell there hay first and than put mine on the market.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

http://www.steffesauctioneers.com/forage_auctions.shtml

Last year I saw a lot of their hay came from Canada. No clue how close you are to something similar. Seems to me a long way from Manitoba but people made money last year. Drought sure helped profit.


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