# Buying Silage



## justbad7 (Oct 2, 2013)

I just purchased my 4 old cows that are pregnant. I was thinking that silage would be great for them. We dont have any silage but some neighbors do that we might be able to buy. What do you think would be a good price for silage?


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

We used to sell it for 2.5 cents a pound. Not sure what its worth down there.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

$50 per ton here for corn silage was much higher before corn price droped


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

When we sold out the dairy, we had a lot of silage left. We had the nutritionist take the feed analysis and generate a price based on RFV. I would highly suggest that you get any feed sampled for feed value before setting a price. What may look good could very well be poor quality.

I don't remember the formula, but we converted to a per ton price based on the current corn market, and adjusted for quality.


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

Depends on what kind of silage and quality. Four cows won't eat alot but it'll make a big difference on weight gain.

Bought some first crop haylage a few years ago to feed heifers. Paid 40 a ton. Was more cost effective than buying dry hay


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Ten times the price of corn. $4.00=$40.00/ton. Usually that formula is pretty fair.


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## MFMan (Jul 2, 2013)

Non of these formulas make any sense to me. In each of your answers above there is no mention of standardizing for various moisture contents. Each sample needs to be converted to a dry matter calculation by determining the moisture content. Then adjust for feed value and market comparables.

I had a guy buy 200 Haylage bales from me last year. On his last load he stated/ explained to me what a great deal my haylage was compared to alternatives like alfalfa. He stated that he thought he was paying me $90/ton. I almost fell off my tractor. Actually, on a dry matter basis purchase he was paying me $237/ton. It was really good food but not cheap good food.


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

The lab does that anyway, before they do any analysis on feed value. Prices are always based on dry matter, whether we were selling the forage, or balancing our cow rations and calculating cost per head for feed.


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