# Cost of Farm Trucks



## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I just happen to have run some reports in my accounting for the last 5 years and something sort of surprised me.

The single most expensive category of expense is motor vehicle, about 20% of my overall farming expenses are tied to fuel, insurance and maintenance of a truck (well two trucks this past year). I could make out ok without a truck for everything except delivery but I only charge 0.50$ a bale for delivery. If I add in depreciation I think I need to be charging at least 1$ a bale for delivery just to cover my costs.

I would lose customers if I cut out delivery but I could pay for a heck of a lot better shed with what I'm spending running a truck all over.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

slowzuki said:


> I just happen to have run some reports in my accounting for the last 5 years and something sort of surprised me.
> 
> The single most expensive category of expense is motor vehicle, about 20% of my overall farming expenses are tied to fuel, insurance and maintenance of a truck (well two trucks this past year). I could make out ok without a truck for everything except delivery but I only charge 0.50$ a bale for delivery. If I add in depreciation I think I need to be charging at least 1$ a bale for delivery just to cover my costs.
> 
> I would lose customers if I cut out delivery but I could pay for a heck of a lot better shed with what I'm spending running a truck all over.


If it is $0.50 in Canadian or US dollars? If Canadian, yiks, you are extremely cheap.  That's like what $0.39 US dollars.

Raise your rate soon, before you go broke, raising hay like some others of us are trying to do. :lol:

Larry


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## NewBerlinBaler (May 30, 2011)

2002 Ford F-350 & 12,000-pound tag-along flat bed trailer with 20-foot deck. Registration & insurance for these two vehicles = $1,150 / year. Fuel and maintenance are extra. This truck only comes out of the shed when I need to haul or tow something. Typically only put around 800 miles/year on it. The per-mile operating cost makes me question why I even have these vehicles.

I deliver eight 4x5 round bales per trip. Going rate around here is $1.50 mile. A few years ago when fuel was more expensive the rate was $2.00 / mile.

Gary


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## gearhartfarms82 (May 10, 2015)

U only have been charging $.50????!!!


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Many people are not charging at all for delivery here. I don't understand it as practically no buyers have trailers. If I don't deliver I get to meet and load 30 bales on short bed pickups 2-3 times a week all year.

We are in an odd market for sure. I charge 4$ a bale delivered locally loaded into buyers barn and I'm on the higher end of pricing.



gearhartfarms82 said:


> U only have been charging $.50????!!!


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## Thorim (Jan 19, 2015)

slowzuki said:


> Many people are not charging at all for delivery here. I don't understand it as practically no buyers have trailers. If I don't deliver I get to meet and load 30 bales on short bed pickups 2-3 times a week all year.
> 
> We are in an odd market for sure. I charge 4$ a bale delivered locally loaded into buyers barn and I'm on the higher end of pricing.


Wow that's a hard market to sell in


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## gearhartfarms82 (May 10, 2015)

Well i dont know were ur at but id look at other avenues for sales. We get the ones who want 30 bales too. I get on skid steer and give them 30 bales next to there truck and i say u load.

$.83 is cost of opperation for our trucks we do all of our short runs off of time and long runs off of miles


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Working with an old dairy barn I don't like folks being up in it themselves getting hay as they may get hurt but I could probably pay off a pole barn in short order in truck cost savings. It's been a goal here to put up a new machine shed to park loaded wagons in. Even something 30x60 with an open long side would let us leave 6 wagons parked for customers to pickup


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Some people don't have a clue what it costs them to haul hay.I was selling to a dairy a few yrs ago @ 125 a ton delivered and all the sudden they quit calling.They had a guy delivering hay in 400 miles for $85 a ton.

The guy hauled there for 4 months and then said he couldn't do it for that,


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

My trucks really breaking my budget this year.


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## gearhartfarms82 (May 10, 2015)

Dont worry about the undercutters. They will always Fall out. You have to make money on the trucks other wize its not worth owning them. Daries are there own breed and problem. Either pay or dont get is my therory. It can sit in the barn first.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Thats my trouble, lots of short runs. They don't understand the work and cost to make 100-300 bales show up on their doorstep the day after they call.



gearhartfarms82 said:


> Well i dont know were ur at but id look at other avenues for sales. We get the ones who want 30 bales too. I get on skid steer and give them 30 bales next to there truck and i say u load.
> 
> $.83 is cost of opperation for our trucks we do all of our short runs off of time and long runs off of miles


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

slowzuki said:


> We are in an odd market for sure. I charge 4$ a bale delivered locally loaded into buyers barn and I'm on the higher end of pricing.


Wow, you are in a 'tough' market, your $4 Canadian, converts to just a little over $3 US and you have delivered the hay, I feel for you, I don't know how the other guys can be in business. 

Larry


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Talk to the guys in Maine they have almost the same financials. Free land to work but low hay prices.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Well that certainly makes me feel fortunate....but things can change....there and here. I don't get less than $240/ton $6/bale for grass and more for grass/alfalfa or straight alfalfa for unweathered hay.

Regards, Mike


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

swmnhay said:


> Some people don't have a clue what it costs them to haul hay.I was selling to a dairy a few yrs ago @ 125 a ton delivered and all the sudden they quit calling.They had a guy delivering hay in 400 miles for $85 a ton.
> 
> The guy hauled there for 4 months and then said he couldn't do it for that,


Probably works part time for the GAO....

Regards, Mike


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

It doesn't look great here long term, the population is aging fast and the young folks move away. Within 20 years the number of ladies with horses is going to be much lower. The race tracks are folding up too.

I think beef may make a little resurgence as the number of empty fields from retired farmers is gonna climb, that would be good for me, I'd start individually wrapping balage and stop fighting our weather so much. There is already a few middle age guys buying up thousands of acres to pasture beef on and buy cheap hay to feed to take them out through their retirement years.



Vol said:


> Well that certainly makes me feel fortunate....but things can change....there and here. I don't get less than $240/ton $6/bale for grass and more for grass/alfalfa or straight alfalfa for unweathered hay.
> 
> Regards, Mike


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

slowzuki said:


> It doesn't look great here long term, the population is aging fast and the young folks move away. Within 20 years the number of ladies with horses is going to be much lower. The race tracks are folding up too.
> 
> I think beef may make a little resurgence as the number of empty fields from retired farmers is gonna climb, that would be good for me, I'd start individually wrapping balage and stop fighting our weather so much. There is already a few middle age guys buying up thousands of acres to pasture beef on and buy cheap hay to feed to take them out through their retirement years.


Well that sounds like paradise to me.....shrinking population and the talking heads moving out.

Beef will rebound before much longer and I think you are spot on with considering wrapped baleage from a quality grass in the future.

Regards, Mike


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

slowzuki said:


> It doesn't look great here long term, the population is aging fast and the young folks move away. Within 20 years the number of ladies with horses is going to be much lower. The race tracks are folding up too.
> I think beef may make a little resurgence as the number of empty fields from retired farmers is gonna climb, that would be good for me, I'd start individually wrapping balage and stop fighting our weather so much. There is already a few middle age guys buying up thousands of acres to pasture beef on and buy cheap hay to feed to take them out through their retirement years.


Ken, I see similar changes here. Horses don't make any money, they lose money. Beef cattle usually make money. I think times have changed pretty much for the good. Although there's still some pockets of big money here and there, I think we're in a overall period of austerity. Those little 5-15 acre plots are going to be used for either cattle or small hay fields.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

We are hitting that boomer hump that all of North America has post war but without young people staying the tax base is going to shrink and rural areas death is going to accelerate. Most young folks here move west to Alberta and don't come home. I just worry who we are going to supply. We're close to the U.S. market but both parties there are talking protectionism. We're bordered by Quebec which has a lot of protectionist policies too. Maybe trade with the UK will open up some more?


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

JD3430 said:


> Horses don't make any money, they lose money.


I would expect that over 90% of the horses owned in this country are "pleasure" horses....not owned to make money. But, they still have to eat!

Regards, Mike


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## gearhartfarms82 (May 10, 2015)

Short runs are easy to price it all in how u do it. Cant seperate trucking from hay all has to be one price. Your money is in the horses. Cows and daries are to tight. Trick is to font the nitch market or do what most wont do.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Vol said:


> I would expect that over 90% of the horses owned in this country are "pleasure" horses....not owned to make money. But, they still have to eat!
> 
> Regards, Mike


You missed my entire point.

The snippet you quoted was part of a bigger picture which you missed. That is that people dont have as much extra money laying around as they used to in todays crappy economy. Therefore many small pastures once occupied by horses have now been replaced by cattle.

From a pure profit for use of land perspective:

Cattle at least break even and usually make money.

Horses usually lose money.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

JD3430 said:


> You missed my entire point.
> 
> The snippet you quoted was part of a bigger picture which you missed. That is that people dont have as much extra money laying around as they used to in todays crappy economy. Therefore many small pastures once occupied by horses have now been replaced by cattle.
> 
> ...


Well here is a news flash for you....cattle don't make any money either right now and yes, cattlemen have lost money on them in the last year plus.....maybe I didn't miss your point...you just didn't make one. Maybe those cattle that have replaced the horses are there just to keep the pastures picked down and maintained.

Regards, Mike


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

JD3430 said:


> You missed my entire point.
> The snippet you quoted was part of a bigger picture which you missed. That is that people dont have as much extra money laying around as they used to in todays crappy economy. Therefore many small pastures once occupied by horses have now been replaced by cattle.
> From a pure profit for use of land perspective:
> Cattle at least break even and usually make money.
> Horses usually lose money.


 Not here......pretty much all the people that have cattle are in the cow and calf buisness and have a pretty good size herd. A small few acre pasture that you typically see horses kept on isn't enough land to support enough cows to make it worth while. Most folks that have horses don't have them to make money they are just pets.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Vol said:


> Well here is a news flash for you....cattle don't make any money either right now and yes, cattlemen have lost money on them in the last year plus.....maybe I didn't miss your point...you just didn't make one. Maybe those cattle that have replaced the horses are there just to keep the pastures picked down and maintained.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Yeah well maybe in your area thats the case, but were selling to yuppies for 10-12/lb right now in the "liberal northeast". I know. I own 5 head on a 6 acre lot that once had horses & sheep.

"Newsflash" for you, Mr. moderator>>> Profits are good....better than losing money on hayburners and yes, italso lowers mowing costs.

Get out and stretch your legs once in a while....people do things differently in other parts of the country than yours.

And THAT IS my point.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

FarmerCline said:


> Not here......pretty much all the people that have cattle are in the cow and calf buisness and have a pretty good size herd. A small few acre pasture that you typically see horses kept on isn't enough land to support enough cows to make it worth while. Most folks that have horses don't have them to make money they are just pets.


Exactly! and in todays lousy Obama economy, fewer people have money for those "pets" than 10-20 years ago.

Of course different areas have different size farms. We "yankees" have smaller farms in the liberal northeast.

Very common to see herds of 4-10 on a 5-10 acre pasture that once had horses on it.


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